


Foretold and Found

by kad88



Category: TMNT (2007), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Comics), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Brothers, Experimentation, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Original side characters for plot purposes only, Precognition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 12:15:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16017725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kad88/pseuds/kad88
Summary: "He wouldn’t let them catch him. He couldn’t. Not with his brothers out there. His brothers… Mikey’s heart ached. He tried to recall what happened to them. There was… blood? His mind raced, trying to remember. What was there to remember? He felt like he could grasp at what had happened, but his brain just wouldn’t bring the full picture to the forefront. He saw flashes of his brothers fighting. Of too many enemies. Too many… "A hurt/comfort fic starring Mikey and his brothers





	1. Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the 2003 turtle-verse, though other versions should work as well
> 
> Warnings: M for language and future violence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: language, violence, panic attack

Today was not one of Michelangelo’s best days. 

A shuriken embedded itself into his calf.

Scratch that. Today was one of Michelangelo’s worst days. He yanked the shuriken out and kept running.

His legs and chest burned. He blinked and tried to ignore the sweat stinging his eyes. Twisting around the outer-corner of a wall, he bent down to catch his breath. A warm sensation dripped down his leg, and a dull pain throbbed from its source. Michelangelo swiped his hand across the wound. He wouldn’t have time to bandage it until he lost these guys. 

A creak behind him.

His breath caught in his throat. 

No.

He wouldn’t let them catch him. He couldn’t. Not with his brothers out there. His brothers… Mikey’s heart ached. He tried to recall what happened to them. There was… blood? His mind raced, trying to remember. What was there to remember? He felt like he could grasp at what had happened, but his brain just wouldn’t bring the full picture to the forefront. He saw flashes of his brothers fighting. Of too many enemies. Too many… 

Dude, chill. Freaking out isn’t going to help you.

Michelangelo took one steadying breath and pushed off the wall, focused only on jumping to the next building and leaving his pursuers far behind him.

A pale figure appeared before him, and Michelangelo barely stopped himself from slamming into them. He whipped out his nunchucks and stood at ready. A woman, wearing a short white gown, stood before him, but she didn’t meet his eyes. Her head slanted toward the gown and her ragged brown hair fell over her face.

“It’s August 7th,” she whispered.

“What?”

“Today. It’s August 7th.”

“Who are— ”

A hand grabbed his shoulder.

No!

 

 

“Wake up, doofus.”

What?

“You’re drooling, get up you dumbfuck.”

Raphael?

Michelangelo shot up, gripping Raphael’s arm.

“The hell?” 

They stood still for a moment. Mikey squeezing Raph’s arm and Raph’s confusion quickly growing into concern.

Michelangelo shook his head and released Raph’s arm. How could he play this off? Raphael raised an eyebrow (or he would have, if he had eyebrows), but the concern still shown in his eyes.

Michelangelo coughed. “Uh, morning, Raph?” was all he could manage.

Raph gave him a questioning look, but didn’t say anything about Mikey’s odd behavior. “You’re late for training, pizza-for-brains. I drew the short straw and had to come wake you.”

Though still shaken up, Mikey chuckled. “How many insulting nicknames you gonna come up with for me this fine morning?”

“Just get ready.” With a pause, Raph crossed his arms, glancing Mikey over. “Idiot.”

“Now that’s a creative one.”

“Shut up.”

Mikey watched his brother leave, trying to supress the unease that settled in his stomach. 

 

 

“Nice of you to finally join us, Mikey,” Leo said, annoyance evident in his voice.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, dudes.”

Raph grunted and Don rolled his eyes.

“I thought that today we could start with some meditation,” Leo said, switching from his annoyed voice to his annoying leader voice. Or at least, that’s how it sounded to Mikey.

He sat down, prepared for an achingly long attempt at meditation, but he couldn’t take his mind off the dream. Who or what had he been running from? Who was the mysterious woman? A lump formed in his throat. What happened to his brothers?

He opened his eyes and focused his attention on his brothers. Surprisingly, Raph seemed just as into the meditation as Leo and Don. He smiled. Why had he been so worried? His brothers were right here, after all. Safe.

Mikey glanced down at his leg where the shuriken had embedded itself. No sign of a wound. He put his hand over his leg and began rubbing it, just to make sure.

He must of accidentally made a sound, because Leo said, “Meditation, Mikey. Focus.”

Mikey wished he was having trouble focusing for the usual reasons. Now, it was more like he was too focused. Too concerned about that dream, even though he couldn’t remember most of it. If only he could remember the whole story. Maybe then, he could make sense of all of it.

But did dreams ever make sense? Maybe there was no “rest of the story.” Maybe it just… was. 

His stomach growled.

Leo sighed. 

“Maybe we should get breakfast before we begin sparring?” Donatello suggested. 

“Heh, he’s right. You all should probably gain your strength before I kick your asses,” Raph said standing up, and Don and Mikey followed his lead.

“You know, I never said we were done meditating,” Leo said.

“Nah, Mikey’s stomach did,” Raph said, wrapping an arm around Mikey’s shoulders and giving him a noogie.

“Raph!” Mikey swiped at his hand as they made their way to the kitchen.

 

 

Michelangelo ended up cooking breakfast (as per usual) and he found himself grateful for the distraction. 

As soon as Mikey had handed out a plate of scrambled eggs to each of them, all the turtles began scarfing down the food. All the turtles, that is, except Mikey. Though his stomach growled, the eggs felt like cement in his mouth. Putting his fork down, Mikey turned his attention toward his brothers.

Safe.

“Why aren't cha eatin’?” Raph said with a mouthful of food.

“Gross, dude!” Mikey lightly shoved his brother, but picked up his fork again and began picking at his food.

Something wasn’t right. He couldn’t turn his attention away from the unease in his stomach. He tried to go over the dream in his mind, but it just made his head hurt. Avoiding thinking about it didn’t help either. He still felt physically ill no matter how he tried to focus on his food. Maybe he was sick? And the dream was caused by a weird fever? Mikey put his hand on his forehead, but couldn’t tell if he was hot.

The unease in his stomach spread until his chest constricted. Mikey gulped for air, but couldn’t get enough. 

“Mikey?” Leo started.

His breath sounded ragged now, and he tried to force air in, but he just couldn’t. His hands were numb now, and he felt lightheaded. 

Donatello was talking to him now, telling him to slow down his breathing. Couldn’t he see that he couldn’t get enough air? How was this going to help? His chest burned. He was dying, having a heart attack, something! But soon, he found himself breathing along with his brother.

“That’s good, Mikey. Deep breaths.”

“What the hell was that?”

“Are you okay, Mikey?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Mikey said, thinking fast.

Something the lady from his dream said stood out in his mind. What had she said the date was? August 7th?

“Hey, uh, Donnie?” Mikey croaked.

“Yeah, Mikey?” Don still looked worried.

“What’s the date today?”

“Oh,” Donnie looked up to think for a moment, “it’s August 6th.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not good at writing, but I'm proud of this chapter anyway and had fun writing it. If you got this far, please let me know what you think!


	2. Preventative Measures

“It’s August 6th.”

Michelangelo laughed, though it sounded raw from the lack of air. 

“Mikey?” Donatello asked. “You okay?”

Michelangelo quieted down and grinned. “Sure, Don. I don’t know what came over me there. Just, uh, give me a moment, okay?”

Don nodded and Michelangelo abruptly stood up. It was just a dream, right? There was no way that whatever bad things he had seen would come true tomorrow. 

His brothers exchanged glances with each other.

“Earth to Mikey.” Raphael waved his hand in front of Michelangelo’s face.

“Huh? Oh, heh. Sorry guys, just kind of spacing out.”

“We can see that,” Leo said. “Are you sure you’re okay? Should I get Master Splinter?”

Master Splinter!

His brothers jumped, and it took a moment for Michelangelo to realize he had shouted his sensei’s name out loud. 

“Sorry! Yes, Master Splinter! I need to see Master Splinter.”

 

 

Michelangelo walked toward Master Splinter’s room, and his brothers made to follow.

“Do you guys mind waiting out here? I think I wanna tell Master Splinter what’s going on alone.” How embarrassing would it be if they knew what all this was about?

Raph looked like he was about to argue, but Leo intervened.

“Sure, Mikey.” He nodded to the others and they backed off, returning to the table. “We’ll be here when you’re done.”

“Thanks, dudes.”

Michelangelo took off toward Master Splinter’s room. What would he say? Would he think he was losing it? That he was making it up?

Sighing, Michelangelo knocked on Master Splinter’s door.

“Come in, Michelangelo”

How did he know it was him? When he entered, he must have looked confused, because Master Splinter chuckled. “I’ve raised you boys, I know the sound of your treads.”

“Right.” Mikey twiddled with his nunchucks.

“What brings you here, my son?”

“It’s stupid.”

“You look worried, and if you are worried, I assure you it’s not stupid.”

Michelangelo took a deep breath before it all came tumbling out. The dream. His missing brothers. Being chased. The woman in the white gown. When he finished, he closed his eyes, wondering how his sensei would respond.

“That is very concerning, my son.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, I would like to dismiss it as just a dream, but you and I both know there are mysterious forces at work in the universe. I would not be surprised if you somehow received a vision of the future. And even if it is just a dream, your panic over it is enough to warrant concern. Do you remember what events led up to the attack?”

“No. I just know that it was bad. Like, very bad.” Michelangelo rubbed his head. “Jeez, why me? I mean, if it is some kind of prophesy, why not you, or Leo?”

“That, I do not know. However, we should not ignore any potential danger. You said you were out in the city in this dream?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you and your brothers are to stay home tomorrow.”

Michelangelo scoffed. “All because of a dream? They’ll think I’m crazy!”

Master Splinter tsked at his tone, but suggested a solution. “I’ll recommend a day in to work on your training, and I’ll forbid any of you from patrolling tonight”

That could work. If they all stayed home, maybe nothing in his dream would come true. Maybe none of it would come true regardless, but it was reassuring to take preventative measures. As Michelangelo opened the door to leave, he turned back to his sensei.

“Thanks, Master Splinter, for believing me.”

“Of course, my son.”

 

 

The rest of the day went by quickly. Much too quickly for Michelangelo. He spent the day pacing around their home. Luckily, though his brothers grumbled about staying in that night, none of them argued with Master Splinter. Perhaps they suspected it had something to do with Michelangelo’s earlier panic. Leo asked Mikey if he wanted to put his pent up energy to training, and though it would be a good distraction, Mikey didn’t feel like he could concentrate well enough to perform well. That would probably just worry his brother more. Donatello asked him if he wanted to help him with some invention or another, and Mikey declined. Even Raphael sought to end Michelangelo’s restlessness by inviting him to watch a movie together. Mikey was grateful to all of them for their efforts, but he was too stressed about the day to come.

He sort of wished Splinter had just told him there was nothing to worry about. That he just ate too much midnight pizza and needed to stop panicking. Instead, Master Splinter believed that his dream may have been more than a dream. At least he had gotten his brothers to agree to stay home to train the following day.

When night came, Mikey knew he should sleep, but he also knew that the sooner he fell asleep the sooner tomorrow would come. Michelangelo stared at the ceiling for as long as he could, but soon his eyelids shut and he drifted off to a fitful slumber.

 

 

The woman appeared to him again. This time, they were in his room, and all was quiet. Michelangelo stared. Now that he was closer, he realized that the short white gown she wore was actually a hospital gown. She wore a red wristband and her ragged hair still fell over her face, though Mikey could tell she was looking at him.

“Hey, dude. Dudette? Wanna tell me who you are?”

“They’re coming,” she said. Her voice was raspy, and sounded as if she hadn’t spoken for a long time.

“Who’s coming?”

“Them. The government. I don’t know who they really are. But they’ve discovered you and they’re coming.”

“Like, why couldn’t you have just said that earlier? What was with the blood and chasing last night?”

“I thought that seeing your potential future would be more action-provoking. I was going to explain last night, but our connection… broke.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. You need to wake up now.”

Michelangelo looked around. He pinched himself, but nothing happened. “And, how do I do that?”

The woman shook her head again. A loud bang echoed through the sewer, and the woman snapped her head toward the door.

“They’ve found you.”


	3. Taken

Michelangelo awoke to gunfire. 

He glanced around to find the woman, but she was gone. He didn’t have time to think too much about that. Grabbing his nunchucks, he raced outside, and peered over the edge of the balcony to the common area.

It was chaos. Figures in helmets and bullet-proof vests fired their weapons into their home. Leonardo and Raphael had taken cover in opposite corners of the room, waiting for an opportunity to fight back. Donatello was hidden with Master Splinter, quickly scanning about the sewer, probably searching for an exit through the mass of soldiers. 

Michelangelo took a deep breath and jumped. He heard one of the soldiers shout something, and he could feel their eyes turn to him. He twisted out of the way of the bullets, or what he assumed to be bullets.

He felt a sharp pain in his left leg. Michelangelo hit the floor and rolled, taking cover beside Leonardo.

Sitting back, Michelangelo checked his leg. An angry red mark stared back at him.

Bean bag rounds?

So they weren’t trying to kill them. At least, not yet. Good to know. 

“Leo!”

Leo glanced over at Michelangelo. “A little busy right now, Mikey.”

“No, look!” He pointed to the red mark on his leg. “They’re using bean bag rounds, not bullets.”

Leonardo’s eyes widened, then he smirked and darted out from his hiding spot.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Raphael shouted from across the room.

Leo moved quickly to dodge the rounds, but his steps were more confident without the fear that a hit would be fatal. Of course, he still had to be careful, but Michelangelo knew Leo could be both cautious and aggressive in a fight. 

Michelangelo heard Raphael curse loudly before following Leonardo’s lead. Raph slashed at the nearest soldier’s chest with his sai, tearing the fabric that covered his vest.

They took out two of the soldiers in front, and then two more after that. But no matter how many they took out of the fight, more seemed to replace them.

Too many enemies.

Shit! If only he had remembered how they were attacked in the dream. He had assumed they had been outside the sewers, since that’s where he had been for all the parts he remembered. But if in the dream they had been attacked in their home, he would’ve warned the others and prevented this!

Ignoring the throbbing pain in his leg, Michelangelo stood up and joined the fray. He tried to keep most of his weight on his uninjured leg, and focused on taking out the soldiers with his nunchucks. Unfortunately, with their helmets and armor, his hits barely left an impact.

“Excuse me.” Mikey said as he hopped on top of one of the soldier’s shoulders. He grabbed the man’s helmet with both hands and yanked. Luckily, it came off easily, and one well-aimed blow had the man on the ground. 

Donatello and Splinter followed suit, aiming to knock out as many soldiers as possible to clear a path to escape. 

Something sharp pricked the back of Michelangelo’s neck. Pulling it out, he examined the object. A dart.

He started to feel sleepy.

Not cool, dude. 

“Mikey!” was the last sound he heard before darkness overcame him. 

 

 

April hadn’t heard from the boys in days, and they hadn’t been answering their shell cells. It wasn’t like she always kept tabs on them; sometimes they would disappear on one of their “missions” for an extended period of time, but she still couldn’t help but worry. Especially since Donatello promised to take a look at a weird new artifact she’d come across. 

She peered at the emerald-like artifact in it’s glass case. Professional couldn’t identify what kind of stone it was, and around it was written runes in a language long lost to time. Tapping her finger against the desk the case sat upon, she sighed.

Well, time to find out what those boys are up to. 

April called Casey.

The phone rang for several seconds before a voice picked up. “‘Ello?” He sounded suspiciously like he had been asleep. Glancing at the clock, April sighed again. Two o’clock. 

“Casey?” She tried not to let her annoyance seep into her tone.

“April!” Casey’s groggy voice immediately picked up. “What’s up?”

“Have you heard from Raphael in a while?”

“No, I haven’t seen ‘im for at least a week, why?”

“I just haven’t heard from any of the boys in a few days, and I was getting worried. You really haven’t heard from any of them?”

“Calm down, April. I’m sure they’re just busy doin’ ninja stuff.”

“You’re probably right.” April closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. “I still want to go check on them, though. I’ve got a bad feeling.”

“If you say so. Want me to come with?”

“That would be great, Casey. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

 

 

April met Casey outside the turtle’s lair. 

“Hello? Anyone home?” April called.

“Hey, Raph! I’ve been meaning’ to spar with you. How about a couple rounds?”

Nobody answered.

Stepping inside, they made their way to the common area.

“Yeesh, what a mess,” Casey said, stepping over a knocked-over desk.

“It looks like it’s been this way for a while.” April scanned the room. Pieces of furniture and broken glass was scattered everywhere. She bent down and picked up a white bean bag from the floor. “What do you think happened here?”

“A fight,” Casey said, ignoring the silent “obviously” April sent his way. 

Wandering around the room, April spotted a black cloth caught on the edge of a desk.

“What’s this?” April picked up the torn cloth, the letters “PIU” written across it.

“Probably tore off of whoever they were fighting.” April carefully placed the cloth into her bag, making a mental note to research the acronym later. 

After a searching the rest of the lair, April and Casey didn’t turn up anything else. 

“Let’s go,” April said at last.

“Now?”

April nodded. “It doesn’t look like there’s much else here. The piece of cloth we found may be our only clue as to what happened here.”

“Got any ideas?”

“I’m working on it.”

 

 

Michelangelo woke up in a glass box. He was in a white room that looked too much like a hospital for his taste. His brothers and Master Splinter were each encased in their own small glass room, lined up against a wall like some kind of display. Leo and Donatello were trapped to the right of him, and Raphael and Splinter were trapped to the left. Stepping back, Michelangelo took a running start to kick at the glass. 

Ouch! He bounced off the wall.

“I wouldn’t try that,” Leo said, startling Mikey, who hadn’t been aware he was awake. “It looks fragile but it’s as hard as stone.”

“Could’ve gotten a warning sooner, bro.”

Leo gave him a wry smile, shaking his head.

Mikey glanced toward his other brothers and Master Splinter, who all appeared to be unconscious. Of course, he had thought the same about Leo, so he couldn’t be too sure.

“So they got you guys too, huh?” 

“There were too many of them. Eventually they got us all with those sleep darts.”

“I’m guessing you were the last one standing?” Mikey joked, but Leo just gave a solemn nod.

“I’m ashamed to say that at that point I just gave up. All of you, even Master Splinter, were down and I didn’t know how to get out with all of you.” He laughed harshly to himself. “That was stupid, I should have escaped so that I could come up with a plan and rescue you. Now I’m just in the same boat.”

Michelangelo frowned. “Don’t say that, Leo. I’m the one who should’ve gotten us out of there.”

Leo laughed. “What do you mean? You were the first of us out.”

Mikey took a steadying breath. Should he tell him about the dream? Would he be mad? He glanced at his older brother, who was still looking at him. No, Leo could get frustrated sometimes, but he was forgiving when it really counted.

“I sort of… had a dream that we were going to be attacked before it happened?”

A beat.

“You what?”

Mikey cringed and laughed nervously. “Yeah, I mean I thought it was just a dream but I was still worried so I went to Master Splinter and he said we would try to prevent it but I didn’t remember everything so I just sort of assumed if we stayed home we would be fine and— ”

“Mikey, you’re rambling.”

“Sorry.”

“Look, from what I picked up from that, you couldn’t have known the dream would come true. So don’t blame yourself.”

Hypocrite, much? Leo is the king of blaming himself.

Leo continued, “Is that why you panicked back in the lair?”

“Yeah, sort of freaked, I guess.”

“Good. I mean, not good, but good that we know what caused it. You really had us worried there.” Leo smiled awkwardly. None of them were really that great at the reassuring stuff, were they?

“Ugh, what hit me in the head?”

“Raph?” Michelangelo turned around to see Raphael leaning over and rubbing his head. “You’re awake!”

“No shit, where are we, anyway?”

“That we don’t know,” Donatello said, causing Michelangelo to jump for the second time.

“Don? Since when were you up?” he asked. 

Donatello shrugged. “For a while, now. You guys seemed to be in the middle of a conversation and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

He paused for a moment. “You know, it’s odd that we can all hear each other. There seems to be a speaker system between our rooms.”

“Which means they’re probably listening in, too.” Leo said, frowning.

“I would assume so.”

Finally orienting himself, Raphael stood up. He took a step back.

Michelangelo knew what was coming. “Wait! You won’t be able to— ”

Raphael ran and jump-kicked anyway, shuddering as his leg hit the glass then bounced back.

“Told you.”

“Shut up.”

Master Splinter was the last to wake. He took one look at their surroundings and sighed.

“My sons, it seems we’re in a predicament.”

“I’ll say,” Donatello said. “Master Splinter, do you have any idea where we are?”

“None, my son.” A creak sounded from the other side of the room. “But I’m sure we’ll find out in due time.”

 

 

A woman opened the door on the other side of the room. The lab. Her blonde hair was messily held up in a bun. She wore a white lab coat, large square glasses, and a black earpiece. She held a clipboard in her hands that she studied as she walked. Glancing up, she smiled, and Mikey found it a little unsettling.

“Good morning test subjects 624, 625, 626, 627, and 628. I hope you enjoyed your rest. We have a long day ahead of us. Any concerns?”

“Yeah, where the hell are we?” Raphael banged his fist against the glass.

“Which number and I?” Michelangelo asked, earning a glare from Raph.

Ignoring them, the woman continued. “Now, I will be taking you out to run a few tests. In your containment cells we have equipped tanks to release carbon monoxide. It will quickly kill you if any of you act up, or if the subject we are currently testing tries anything. So I recommend full cooperation, okay?” She paused. “And don’t think you can knock me out or anything before I can release the gas. Those in charge of releasing aren’t even in this room, and they’re always watching.”

Leo cleared his throat. “So what happens if we help you with your little experiments. Will you let us go?”

The woman smiled broadly. “You are not currently in a position to negotiate. If any of you do not fulfill your duty to this country, another subject will be killed. Remember your actions affect one another and we’ll be fine.” She glanced down at her clipboard. “We’ll start off easy. I want to take blood samples from each of you, okay?” She raised her head toward the upper right corner of the room and nodded her head.

The front wall of Master Splinter’s cell lowered slowly, sinking into the floor. The woman motioned him forward, and silently, Master Splinter did as he was told. 

“Hey!”

“Master Splinter!”

Splinter looked from the upper corner of the room that the woman had nodded toward earlier to his sons. He shook his head. “For now, it is best to do as we are told. We do not know the full extent of the situation.”

She motioned toward an examination table. 

“Have a seat.” She pulled out a needle and took a moment to draw Master Splinter’s blood. Master Splinter didn’t even flinch as the needle entered his skin, instead staring intently at the woman. 

“Miss, would you care to give us more information on where we are and why we’re here?” Master Splinter asked as she finished drawing blood. 

“I do not have authorization to do so,” she said, walking Splinter back to his cell. “What I can tell you is that the work we’re doing here is for the benefit of the country, maybe even the world.”

One by one, she took them out of their cells to draw their blood. When it was Michelangelo’s turn, he remembered the strange woman in his dream. Maybe, just maybe, this woman could give him answers.

“Hey, will you answer a question for me?” Unlike Master Splinter, Mikey cringed as the needle pierced his skin.

“It depends on what it is.”

“Is there a woman with like brown, scraggly hair, here?”

The woman gave him an odd look. “Not a very specific description.”

“Uh, she wears a hospital gown?” Michelangelo suggested, kicking himself both for not remembering more salient features and for using a description that could easily be changed. 

The woman frowned. “I think we’re done here,” she said, walking Michelangelo back to his cell, waiting for the wall to close, and then turning to leave.

Leo and Donatello glanced at one another.

Donatello shrugged. “Guess she didn’t need our blood?”

Leo narrowed his eyes. “Or she knows exactly who Michelangelo was talking about.”


	4. Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this a little sooner than I have been posting other chapters. Thank you to those who commented you really brightened my day and had some good constructive criticism! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

The woman came back some time later. Mikey couldn’t tell how much. An hour, maybe? She silently took Leo and Donatello individually out of their cells and took their blood. Unlike before, she didn’t say a word, nor did she smile once. Taking some final notes on her clipboard, she left the room.

“Did you guys notice that she had blood on her coat?” Don asked following a few beats of silence after the woman had left. 

“Maybe she spilled some of our blood. Who cares, let’s just work on finding a way outta here.” Raphael punched the glass, growling when nothing happened. 

“I understand your frustration, my son, but we must proceed cautiously. There’s a camera, and we aren’t sure if what she said about the poisonous gas was the truth.” He nodded toward the corner of the room.

Michelangelo nodded. “She kept looking over there, didn’t she? How are we supposed to escape if they’re watching our every move?”

“Plus, there’re vents in the floor, so I wouldn’t be too quick to call her bluff,” Donatello said.

Raphael growled again, stared at the camera in the corner, then patted his hips. “Anyone got their weapons still?”

“Not me”

“No.”

“Nada.”

Raphael gave a half-hearted kick at the wall.

“There’s gotta be something we can do,” Leo said, pacing. 

“Patience. Take in your environment and we will come up with something,” Splinter said, taking a seat. The boys followed suit, and they surveyed the room. Several examination tables sat in a row in the center of the room. Cabinets lined the wall closest to Donatello, and tables with sinks lined the wall closest to Splinter. On the last wall was a single door, where the woman had entered earlier. It was one of those top-secret facility doors that Michelangelo would have found cool if it didn’t block their exit.

“What about the wall behind us?” Leo asked. “Maybe it isn’t as strong as the glass walls.”

Raphael banged on it. “It’s hard as steel, fearless leader.”

“We may have to wait until she lets us out of our cells.” Donatello rubbed his temples. “The issue is I don’t think she’s going to let more than one of us out at a time, so whenever she takes us out we need to be on the lookout for escape paths.”

“So, uh, what now?” Michelangelo twiddled his fingers, wishing he still had his nunchucks to swing around. There was something soothing about them, like they helped release the tension and energy inside him. 

“Now,” Master Splinter said. “We wait.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”

 

 

When the woman returned, her smile had reappeared. Seeming to forget her moodiness earlier, she opened Mikey’s cell.

“I have a few questions to ask you 626. Would you mind following me?” Her fake smile stretched across her face, but the last statement didn’t sound like a request.

Michelangelo gulped. “Uh, sure lady. Anything you want.”

“Excellent”. She nodded toward the camera and Michelangelo’s cell wall began to lower. “And remember, any escape attempts means your friends here are dead. I would prefer live specimen, but I can study your corpses just as well.” She chuckled to herself. “Follow me.”

Mikey stepped out of his cell and his eyes swept the room. He didn’t notice anything that he’d missed earlier. Everything was pristine, and he didn’t see anything he could snag as a weapon. 

“He’d better come back lookin’ exactly as he does now,” Raphael said, his tone hard. His brothers nodded in agreement. 

“As long as he cooperates, he should be fine.” The woman turned her back on him and walked toward the door. It would be easy, so easy, to jump her right there. He may even be able to take out the camera, but he couldn’t be sure they wouldn’t release the gas as soon as they lost their visual on them. Let’s hope they’re no technical difficulties. With the camera, or the gas-releasing whatchamacallit. 

Michelangelo followed the woman into a long hallway. There were secure doors similar to the one to the lab lined up throughout the hall, but the woman didn’t stop at these doors, instead continuing down the neverending hall. 

Mikey cleared his throat. “So, you got a name or do I just keep calling you lady?”

The woman glanced back at him quickly before looking forward. “If you must, you may call me Dr. Grey.”

“Alright, Dr. Grey. Where’re we going?”

“Just to a secure room so that I can ask you a few questions.”

“It’s not about that woman I asked you about, is it?”

Dr. Grey didn’t respond. She halted, and Mikey barely avoided running into her.

“We’re here.” She held up a card on a lanyard to a screen next to the door, and the metal door slowly rose.

Inside was the most stereotypical interrogation room Michelangelo had ever seen. It was just like the ones they always had in those cop shows. The walls were bare, and a single small table with two chairs on opposite ends sat in the center of the room. Turning to his right, his own reflection stared back at him, and he assumed it was a one-way mirror. There were probably people watching them from the other side. The back of Mikey’s neck tingled. He hated the idea of people he couldn’t see watching him. And that’s how he felt ever since they ended up in this hellhole— always watched. 

“Have a seat.” Dr. Grey nodded at the chair, then nodded at whoever was behind the mirror.

Mikey did as he was told.

The woman pulled out a file from underneath her clipboard. Opening it, she held up a photograph. In the photo was a mugshot-like image of a woman with brown hair. Though the hair was less untidy, it was definitely the woman from his dream.

“This woman, you saw her in your dreams, correct?”

“How did you— ”

“Answer the question 626.”

Mikey’s mind raced. Should he tell her? She obviously already knew something about this whole dream situation, so if he lied, she’d probably catch him. Ugh, why couldn’t this have been one of his brothers? They were so much better at this than he was.

“Yeah, I saw her in a dream.” Michelangelo hoped he was doing the right thing in coming clean.

Dr. Grey tapped her pen on her clipboard. “Explain the dream to me.”

Should he tell the truth? If she knew more than he did, lying could be dangerous, but he couldn’t just give her what she wanted. Michelangelo decided he would be as vague as possible. “She just sort of appeared in front of me and told me the date.”

“The date you had the dream?”

“No, the date you guys showed up. August 7th.”

She wrote that down, looking at her clipboard intently. “Anything else?” 

Michelangelo paused for a moment. Remembering running, blood, and that final visit in his room. She had been trying to warn him, and he hadn’t gotten the hint. He shook his head. “No, that’s it.”

She pursed her lips. “Thank you 626, this has been very helpful. I will take your cooperation into consideration in the future.”

“Thanks… I guess?”

“If there’s nothing else you have to tell me, I’ll take you back to your cell.” She stood up and gathered her papers.

“Wait! You know who the girl is, right? Who is she?” 

Dr. Grey turned away from him.

“Ah, come on! I told you what I knew, didn’t I? There’s no reason to keep me in the dark here.”

“You are a test subject, 626. You are not privy to the information we keep in this facility.” She walked toward the door briskly and scanned her card. When the door opened, she turned back to Michelangelo. “I suppose I can tell you she’s one of you. Subject 183.”

“You mean a mutant?”

“A mutant? Interesting. You’ll have to tell me more about that next time we talk.”

Michelangelo could’ve hit himself. Why couldn’t he just keep his mouth shut?

She continued, “Unfortunately, I am very busy at the moment. The only reason I came to you about this was because it seemed… urgent.”

Dr. Grey led him back down the hall, Mikey searched wildly, trying to find something, anything, that would help them escape. All he saw were more doors.

 

 

When Mikey was returned to his cell, his brothers waited silently for Dr. Grey to leave before they jumped him with questions. 

“Are you okay?”

“Did they hurt ya?”

“What happened?”

Michelangelo laughed. “Chill, dudes. I’m fine. She just asked me about my dream.”

Now, Donatello looked interested. “Did she know anything about it?”

“It seemed like it, but all I got out of her is she’s stuck in this place like us. Her number is 183. Oh yeah, and scientist-lady is named Dr. Grey.”

“This sucks. I hate not knowing what’s going on,” Raphael said. “Did you at least find out anything useful? Like a way outta here?”

Mikey shook his head. “All that’s out there is a long hallway with more doors. I bet we’d have to get through tons of them to escape.”

“I’m concerned about what’s coming next,” Leo said. “We’re just guinea pigs here and I don’t want to find out what kinds of experiments they’re going to perform on us.”

“Maybe the experiments will mostly be questioning us? Like what she did with me today?” Michelangelo tried to be optimistic, but he didn’t sound like he believed it himself.

Leo sighed. “Look around us, Mikey. We’re in a laboratory! Who knows what they have in those cabinets.”

“Maybe this is just a containment area and not a lab at all? Or they had nowhere else to put us so we ended up in a lab?” Michelangelo tried again.

This time, Donatello spoke up. “Trust me, Mikey, this is definitely a lab, and they’ve already drawn our blood so I doubt they just have us here for a little chat.”

Raphael scoffed. “And didn’t Dr. Whatsherface say something about ‘helping our country?’ This is for some some psycho government shit.”

“Language, Raphael.”

“Come on, Master Splinter. I think we got bigger things to worry about than my language.”

Master Splinter raised an eyebrow at Raphael, who immediately looked down. “Sorry, Master Splinter.”

Master Splinter nodded. “I believe your conclusions make sense. People are not too open to what they don’t understand, and it seems that they are trying to understand us.”

“Yeah, in the most objectifying way possible,” Raphael said. 

“Patient is all we can be right now.”

“I’m tired of sitting around waiting for them to come get us out! So far, we’ve been lucky. But who knows what sort of things they have in store for us. We need to act.”

“Master Splinter’s right,” Leo said, earning a glare from Raphael. “We can’t do anything until we formulate a plan. The best thing to do is to wait until we come up with something smart.”

Raphael grinned bitterly. “Yeah? And you think we’re gonna just magically come up with something just sitting here? We need to try something. The floor. The ceiling. Anything.”

“They’re watching our every move, Raph! If they see us trying something, we’re dead.” Leo sounded as if he was struggling to keep his voice down. Michelangelo looked between Raph and Leo, both of whom were glaring at each other.

“I bet they’re bluffing.” Raphael stood up and prepared to kick off the glass to get to the ceiling. 

“Are you willing to risk your life on that bet? Your family’s lives?” Leo was yelling now.

“Boys, enough!” Master Splinter growled. “Fighting accomplishes nothing. Raphael, I will not have you risking our lives for a foolhardy plan. Leonardo, keep your voice down.”

“Yes, Master Splinter,” Raphael and Leonardo said at once, Leonardo sounding far more humbled than Raphael. 

And so, they waited and thought, but none of them were sure what to do.

 

 

The next morning, Dr. Grey returned.

“I hope you boys had a good night’s rest,” she said brightly, to which the turtles said nothing.

Dr. Grey coughed into the silence and shook her head. “Oh well, I have a few questions. For all of you this time. Answer them thoroughly and your containment cells will stay poison-free.”

The boys stared at her gravely, and she nodded again happily. “Good! Then let’s get started. What exactly are you? 626 mentioned you were mutants?”

The others turned to glare at Mikey, who could only shrug with a sheepish grin.

Dr. Grey put her hands on her hips. “I don’t have all day.”

Master Splinter spoke up. “Yes, we are mutants. We were once animals turned into our current selves with a chemical known as mutagen.”

“Mutagen? What is that exactly.”

“Would you believe us if we told you it was created by aliens called the Utrom?” Michelangelo grinned. “Pretty weird, but we don’t really know much about it.”

Dr. Grey nodded. “That would explain the… inconsistencies in your dna. How fascinating.” She walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a few sealed bottles with strange-colored liquids inside. “My first curiosity is how your bodies react to certain toxins. It would be useful to know if we could use your dna for medicinal purposes. 626, I’ve gotten along fine with you. Why don’t you be my first subject?”

His cell door began to lower.

“Wait!” Donatello yelped. “I already know a lot about what toxins we are and are not immune to. Why don’t you let me write it down for you?”

The woman smiled at Don while taking michelangelo’s hand and leading him toward the examination table. “But I’m not sure I can trust what you say. I’d rather know for sure. Don’t worry, none of the toxins we’re testing are fatal to humans, just rather painful and impairing.”

“Yay, what a relief,” Michelangelo cheered with little enthusiasm.

“Please lay down.”

Mikey looked at the examination table, then to his brothers and father. Their expressions were about as concerned and anxious as he felt right then, which didn’t exactly help the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

The woman cleared her throat and nodded toward the camera in the corner of the room. Sighing, Michelangelo laid down on the examination table.

“So, you said this would hurt?”

She wrapped straps around his arms and legs and pulled them tight.

“Most assuredly.”


	5. Toxin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: vomiting, experimentation, torture, inaccurate medical and science knowledge but I tried

The needle pierced his skin, and at first, nothing happened.

Dr. Grey took a seat with her clipboard and observed. Mikey stared at the fluorescent ceiling lights, wondering what exactly she had just injected into him. Dr. Grey readjusted her glasses and smiled. “It takes a few moments to kick in. We’re going to see how you react to a toxin another department has been developing. It doesn’t have a name yet, but it’s effects are comparable to quicker-acting colchicine poisoning and arsenic poisoning, though it typically isn’t fatal, at least in humans. There’s a bucket to your left.”

He barely registered the last bit of her statement before everything was on fire. 

Michelangelo’s breath quickened, and his stomach twisted. He could hear what he assumed was a heart-rate monitor quicken its pace. Everything burned and pulsated in a heat he had never felt before. All of his senses dulled. His vision blurred, and he could dully hear banging and yelling coming from the direction of his family.

Screaming? He must have been screaming. But he didn’t feel like he was. He watched himself writhe in agony from afar, his mind buzzing and confused, but he almost didn’t feel the pain anymore. It was like it was happening to someone else.

Suddenly, he felt his body again, and the fire came back with a vengeance. Mikey wished he could curl into himself, but the straps around his arms and legs prevented him from doing so. The nausea in his stomach built up, and saliva rushed into his mouth. 

Oh no.

“There’s a bucket to your left.”

Mikey twisted his head just in time to hurl into the bucket. He hadn’t eaten since before they had been kidnapped, so all that came up was a bile that burned his throat. 

The burning sensations lessened, and the nausea settled down a bit after he had vomited, but he found he could hardly move.

Tears pricked his eyes. He hated this. He wanted to be home right now with his family. His mind was still foggy, and he felt like he needed to concentrate on something, anything, to keep himself present. He could hear several voices, some angry, some frightened, but one was soothing. Slowly, he zoned into that one soothing voice.

Leo.

“Hold on, Mikey. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be fine.”

His brother kept chanting those reassurances, and oddly enough, it helped. It still hurt, but considerably less so than it had before. He breathed and took a moment to appreciate the relief of everything dulling. 

Dr. Grey sighed, and pulled out a recording device from her pocket. “The effects seem to be exactly the same as it is on humans. Poison sample XX50 has short-lasting ill effects on Subject 626, including pain, vomiting, and an aroused state.”

She stood and began to undo the straps around his arms and legs. Mikey rubbed his wrists and tried to stand up, but his head immediately felt dizzy and he almost fell over, only to have Dr. Grey catch him.

“Up we go,” she said, holsting him over her shoulder and returning him to his cell. He couldn’t see his brothers faces, but he could practically feel the rage and despair emanating from them. He briefly wondered if they were disappointed in him for not taking the pain stoically, but then he remembered Leo’s reassurances and shook the thought from his head. 

Dr. Grey dropped him on the floor of his cell like a bag of potatoes, and Raphael growled in the next cell over.

“Be careful, will ya?” Raphael squeezed both of his hands into fists, but the lady just turned and began to leave the cell.

“Wait! Dr. Grey,” Leo said, using the most kiss-ass voice he could muster. 

She paused.

“Won’t you let one of us into his cell with him? To make sure he’s okay? You’d still have most of us in individual cells so you can threaten us, but Mikey needs someone right now.”

Dr. Grey looked like she was about it say no, but then she shrugged. “I guess 626 has been cooperative thus far, I don’t see the harm in it. Just to make sure you aren’t planning anything, it won’t be you I send over.”

She nodded toward Raphael. “You seem the dumbest of the lot, how about you?”

“I seem the— ”

Dr. Grey motioned for the door to lower, and Raphael stumbled out of his cell. She jerked her head toward Mikey’s open cell and Raphael went in without complaint, to Michelangelo’s surprise. 

The door shut and the woman walked briskly out, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll send you back to your cell when I return for the next test.”

Raphael turned to Mikey, who stared up at him from where he was slumped on the floor.

Mikey giggled. “She called you the dumb one.”

“Shut up, dumbass.” He stared down at him and scratched his head. “Hey, Don? What am I supposed to be doing here?”

Don frowned. “We don’t have anything to give him, and I’m not sure the exact nature of the substance she injected. Just make sure he’s sitting up so he doesn’t choke if he throw ups again.”

“That’s about as useful as shit. What am I supposed to do to help him feel better?”

“There isn’t really much we can do under the circumstances.”

Raph sat next to Mikey and propped him up next to him. Michelangelo had trouble keeping himself up, so he leaned against Raph’s shoulder.

“Just don’t throw up on me, alright?” Raph wrapped his arm around Mikey and began rubbing his back.

“Love you, too,” Michelangelo muttered under his breath.

Mikey’s eyes began to drift shut. Before he nodded off, he heard a low voice from a few cells over. 

“I’m sorry, my son.”

 

 

Casey paced as April typed away on her computer.

“You got anything yet?” he asked.

“One second, Casey.” April rubbed her forehead and sighed. “I think I know who took them, but I’m not sure where they took them or how to get them back.”

“Who took ‘em?”

April held up the cloth they had found in the turtles’ lair. “The agency with the acronym ‘PIU’ that makes the most sense is the Paranormal Investigation Unit. Surprisingly, it’s actually an official agency of the U.S. government. Their motto is: ‘Scientifically explaining the unexplainable.’” She scoffed and threw the cloth down next to her computer.

“So they discovered some mutant turtles and decided to investigate?”

“Exactly, but the only information on their website is vague. We’ll have to go to their office in D.C. for more info.”

“So we just gonna waltz in and ask for them back, or… ?”

April smirked. “What do you think?”

“I’m thinking I better get my hockey mask.”

 

 

“Any ideas yet, Donnie?” Michelangelo heard Raphael ask. He had been resting on Raph’s shoulder for some time now, and was starting to feel closer to his usual self. Rather than feeling like he had been poisoned, it felt like he was getting over the flu. Luckily, he hadn’t thrown up again, and his nausea was slowly disappearing. Raph’s presence was especially a comfort. He could tell his brother was trying hard to be reassuring, and he appreciated the effort his usually hard-headed brother was putting in on his behalf.

“I’m starting to think the only weak point in our cells would be the vents.” Don tapped the vent, eying the camera warily as he did so. 

“That’s great and all, but isn’t that where the poisonous gas is? If we break out that way, we’re just gonna be poisoning ourselves,” Raph said.

“And I’m sure Mikey’s had enough of that,” Leo added.

Donatello shook his head. “While I’d prefer not to take the risk, Dr. Grey mentioned that the gas they’re using is carbon monoxide. It’d have to be a fairly high concentration to affect us right away, and as long as we move quickly, we should have time to get out before we lose consciousness.”

“That’s assuming there’s a floor below us. Besides, we have no idea how high the concentration is, and Mikey’s still ill,” Leo argued. “There has to be another way.”

Master Splinter cleared his throat. “I understand your concerns, Leonardo, but Donatello’s right. It may be risky, but it may be our only option.”

“Yeah, we can’t just wait until we’re all outta commission to make our escape.” Raphael gently squeezed Michelangelo’s shoulder.

“And don’t worry about me, dude.” Michelangelo tried not to let his voice wobble. “I’m feeling better, already.”

Donatello smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Alright, Mikey. We know they’re probably listening to us, so we’d better work fast before they send someone in or decide to release the gas on their own.”

They all nodded and stood up, preparing to kick in the vents. 

“You ready, Mikey?” Raph asked as he held him steady.

“You bet!” Michelangelo grinned and pushed himself away from Raph. “After you, my lady.” He pointed at the vent.

Raph smirked back and took a deep breath. He took a running start, kicking at the vent, and the others followed suit. The floor around the vent began to crack, and Raph’s smirk turned into a grin. “It’s crackin’!” The vent soon gave way and Michelangelo peaked inside. The vent door led to the inside of a small tank. Three more crashes sounded.

Donatello yelled, “Hold your breath! Carbon Monoxide is colorless and odorless, and its probably dispersed into our cells already.”

Footsteps sounded outside. “Hurry!” Leo continued kicking at the tank, and Michelangelo hoped with all his might that there was a floor below them.

With a final shout, Raphael jumped onto the bottom of the tank, and this time, it gave way, and Raphael disappeared. Michelangelo heard three more distinct crashes and watched as his other two brothers and his master disappeared into the floor.

The lab door opened, and Mikey jumped into the hole after Raphael.

 

 

Michelangelo found himself in another laboratory. To his relief, the rest of his family made it and seemed relatively unharmed. An alarm blared and flashing red lights filled the room. The door to the lab was closed, and by the time Michelangelo had a chance to look around, Donatello had already began trying to unlock the door with the access pad. 

“Anyone else have a major headache?” Mikey shouted over the alarm. His brothers nodded.

“Must be because of the carbon monoxide,” Donatello replied, still crouched down in front of the keypad.

The door started to open.

“Nice work, Donnie!” Michelangelo felt hope flood through him. Maybe they could really get out of here. He’d never have to endure Dr. Grey’s painful experiments again.

“That wasn’t me,” Donatello backed up away from the door.

The hope Michelangelo felt immediately dissipated as soldiers in the same garb as those who had stormed their home marched through the door, except these guys were wearing strange masks. His stomach churned, and he wasn’t sure if it was because of the situation, or the aftereffects of the toxin most likely still coursing through his veins. Staring at the soldiers’ weapons, Michelangelo wondered if these ones were as nonlethal as the ones they had used to capture them.

The soldiers aimed at them, and parted as Dr. Grey strolled through. She motioned toward another camera in the corner of the room, and the sirens stopped.

“You caused quite a bit of damage upstairs,” she said, disappointed, as if she were a parent talking down to a disobedient child. 

“If you’d just let us out, we wouldn’t have to cause any damage, now, would we?” Raphael snapped, his hands unconsciously feeling for his sai, but finding nothing. 

Michelangelo felt lightheaded. If this turned into a fight, he wasn’t sure he could hold out. His brothers and Master Splinter stood in fighting stances, and Michelangelo attempted to do the same, but he stumbled.

Leo and Raph were immediately on either side of him, each with a hand firmly on either arm, holding him firmly. 

Dr. Grey hard eyes met Michelangelo’s. She tsked and folded her arms, her confidence causing Michelangelo to waver further. 

They really weren’t ever getting out of here.

“We gave you special treatment, giving you your own room and spacing out experiments to allow you to rest between them. I even broke protocol to allow two of you to temporarily share the same cell.”

She sighed dramatically and narrowed her eyes. “You should learn that those who do not appreciate their privileges get them taken away.”

“Like hell.” Raphael released Michelangelo’s arm and charged her.

“Raph!” Donatello cried, as Dr. Grey slipped on a mask similar to those the soldiers wore.

Two soldiers stepped in front of Dr. Grey and fired on Raph. He twisted, somehow managing to dodge the darts firing toward him at close range, and simultaneously kicked over each soldier with either foot. 

Donatello and Master Splinter went after the other soldiers, and Leo turned to Michelangelo. “You okay here for a second?” Mikey nodded, and Leo jumped in after the others.

Raph gripped the collar of Dr. Grey’s lab coat and shook her harshly.

“Don’t think I ain’t willin’ to kill you where you stand,” Raph growled, but Michelangelo only heard a small chuckle coming from beneath the mask.

“Hold your breath!” Donatello shouted as a green gas emitted from every corner of the room. It filled the space in seconds, and Michelangelo accidentally took a sharp breath when he could no longer see his brothers. 

His headache turned to pounding, and black spots filled his vision. Though he tried to hold his breath, he found himself breathing rapidly and shallowly. 

“Leo!”

No answer.

“Raph!”

Nothing.

“Don?”

His voice was less frantic now, just unsure. Where was everyone? Were they still fighting? Or had they been taken out?

“Master Splinter?” Mikey called out at last before everything faded to black.


	6. The Lab

Michelangelo awoke standing up.

He was slumped against the wall of another glass tank. He pressed his hands against opposite sides of the cell, but his arms couldn’t fully extend. This cage was cylindrical and looked a lot more like the stereotypical human experiment container. 

His breath caught in his throat. He pushed against the glass, trying to stretch further, but to no avail. Michelangelo swallowed and closed his eyes. At least in the other cell he had space to walk around. This tank was just… too cramped. He was trapped. Well, he had been trapped since arriving here, but now the concept felt truly palpable. 

His brothers and sensei stood in their own cells, awake, but dazed. Master Splinter and Leo were feeling around, while Donatello stared off into the distance, lost in thought. Raph banged on every inch of their environment, trying to find any weak spot in their confinement.

They weren’t alone.

The room was spacious, with rows and rows of glass pods. Inside each was a figure, but Michelangelo could hardly make out more than shadows. He assumed they must have been more unlucky saps like them, caught up in whatever scheme these scientists were planning.

“Ah, so you’re finally awake. We’ve been waiting for you.” Dr. Grey walked out of the shadows and pushed up her glasses dramatically like some sort of anime villain. “As head scientist, I took an interest in you… mutants, but I suppose if you are to act up we will treat you as we would any other test subject.” She motioned toward the surrounding tanks. There were probably around fifty lined up in the room.

They were numbered in the 260s. That meant there were a couple hundred more test subjects, right? Michelangelo wondered what happened to them.

“I’d like to take a look inside you, so if you wouldn’t mind… ” Dr. Grey raised her hand and motioned upward in front of Don’s pod, though Michelangelo couldn’t tell where the camera she used to direct whoever controlled the tech in this place was. “If you’ll follow me, we’ll begin your dissection.”

Donatello stumbled forward, staring at Dr. Grey warily.

Wait, dissection?

Donatello glanced back at his brothers, thinking. Then he turned toward Dr. Grey and nodded. She smiled in return.

Michelangelo shouted and banged his fists against the glass, and he heard his brothers do the same, but they weren’t getting anywhere. Was this how his family felt when they saw him being experimented on? Shell, it felt horrible.

He watched as his brother slowly followed behind Dr. Grey out a huge metal door.

 

 

April waited with her arms crossed at the empty front desk of the PIU’s headquarters. It had been a long night. After developing a game plan, April and Casey had immediately booked tickets with an airline and packed to leave. The flight was only an hour and a half, but the earliest flight they could catch didn’t arrive until 6 in the morning. April tried to sleep the night before, she really did, but all she could think of was the boys and whatever horrible experience they must be enduring. She just knew she had bags under her eyes, and she glanced over at Casey wondering if he got any sleep either. He seemed chipper enough, excited even, to bash some heads in. Casey, she supposed, was used to not getting enough sleep, often staying out all night and sleeping into the day. 

A man in a blue suit approached with a wide smile, though he had bags under his eyes that April was sure matched her own. He clenched and unclenched his fists a few times before speaking. “Good morning ma’am and sir. How may I help you?”

Casey strode up directly in front of the man. “You see, we’re here to… uh… April, why don’t you tell him why we’re here?”

April stepped forward. “My… partner and I work for Channel 6 News.” This was a ridiculous cover; It would never work. Why hadn’t they come up with something better? “We feel that the importance of the work done here at the PIU is often unappreciated by the general public, so we were hoping to get an interview with anyone who works here who can help us educate the public.”

The man’s smile faltered. “I would love to help, ma’am, but I’m afraid I’m not the right person to ask about something like that.” He scratched his head. “Maybe, well… let me call my superior.” He grabbed a phone from off the desk, fumbled with it a little, and made his call. While they waited, April pulled Casey aside.

She bit her lip. “I’m not sure this will be enough to get us what we need. Even if they buy the reporter bit, I doubt they’ll want to give away the location of the boys.”

Casey put a hand on her shoulder. “Relax, April. We’ll figure something out. Besides, if they don’t want to tell us, there are other methods of making ‘em talk.”

The man hung up the phone and turned toward them. “We have a liason who would love to meet with you, but she requires identification authentication to assure you are who you say you are.”

“Of course,” April said, much more confidently than she felt. She had brought fake ids she always kept for just such an emergency, but she had never tested these ones out.

They waited for several more minutes before being greeted by a friendly woman with curly black hair and purple lipstick in a dress suit.

She reached out a hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Ms… ”

“Langinstein,” April finished, shaking the woman’s hand.

The woman looked toward Casey. “Fenwick,” he offered, extending his hand as well. 

“Well, Ms. Langinstein. Mr. Fenwick. My name is Ms. Taylor. I understand you have some questions about the PIU?”

“Yes, is there somewhere we can talk?”

Ms. Taylor nodded. “Follow me.”

She led them to a room on the third floor. On the way there, Casey and April scanned their surroundings, looking for any clues as to the turtles’ whereabouts. To them, however, it just looked like any other office building. In the elevator, Ms. Taylor glanced at the large bag draped over Casey’s shoulder. “What’s in the bag?” she asked.

“You know, news reporter stuff,” Casey said, and the rest of the walk was silent.

Ushering them into the office and taking a seat behind a desk, Ms. Taylor opened her arms in an inviting gesture. “Ask away.”

April paused. What kind of questions would give her the answers she needed, without tipping them off about their real intentions? She cleared her throat and took out a notepad. “Well, first. Tell us a little about the PIU. What’s the first thing we should know about this organization?”

The woman tapped her finger on her desk and looked off in thought. “A hard question to answer. The PIU, or Paranormal Investigation Unit, covers a wide range of areas. Anything that seems beyond the realm of science is investigated… scientifically, if you will. Sceptics may find this organization to be a joke, but isn’t science all about explaining what can’t be explained?”

Ah, that was a good start point. April thought she knew where to steer this conversation. “We are of the same mind, Ms. Taylor. Has the PIU had any success explaining the unexplainable?”

“We’ve made some progress,” Ms. Taylor said, “But I’m afraid most of that information is not yet available to the public.”

“Can you at least give us a hint?” April pushed. “If you did find something unusual, what would you do with it?”

“If we found something unusual we would study it in an objective manner in our research labs.”

“Are the labs in this building?” Casey jumped in.

Ms. Taylor raised an eyebrow. “Yes, we have several below ground levels dedicated entirely to research. Unfortunately, however, I cannot share with you our research for the purpose of academic integrity.”

“Integrity… right.” April stood up. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Taylor. We really appreciate you speaking with us.”

“I wish I could tell you more. I think education is very important, especially when it comes to matters that so many would not dare to believe. It’s why I took this job in the first place. However, even I do not have clearance to know about the research taking place in our labs.”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“Of course! But the rules are in place for a reason, aren’t they? I’m sure once the researchers discover hard evidence of the paranormal, they will share their findings.”

April glanced at Casey at the same time he glanced at her. “Let’s hope,” she said. And with that, April and Casey left the PIU headquarters. Now, they needed to come up with a plan to get to the lower levels of the building. She was sure that was where they were keeping the turtles.

 

 

Michelangelo hated this. He hated being put on display like some kind of… display. He hated being cramped in such a small space, his only free movement being the shaking of one of his legs. Most of all, he hated the agonizing wait for his brother to return. If he returned. Michelangelo shook his head. He couldn’t think like that. His brother would be fine. These were scientists and doctors, probably. They would know how to do a dissection safely.

But all he could think about was his brother on a middle school lab table, with inexperienced hands hacking away at him to get a peek inside. His brother really was going to be one of those frogs they dissect. And Dr. Grey didn’t seem all that concerned about their safety. She had three more mutant turtles and a mutant rat. What was losing just one for the sake of science?

His shaking leg must have been making more noise than he thought, because Raph snapped, “Would ya cut that out, already?”

Michelangelo immediately stilled his leg, though the impulse to shake it remained. 

Leo was a little more sympathetic. “Don’t worry, Mikey. Don will be fine. He’s strong.”

Master Splinter hummed in agreement. “Your brother will return to us, Michelangelo.”

Michelangelo laughed, but it sounded hollow even to his own ears. “Of course I know that. I’m not worried!” He couldn’t help but add, “He is the brother of the Battle Nexus Champion, after all.” 

Despite their predicament, or perhaps because of it, his brothers groaned.

Raph scowled. “You always find some way to work that into the conversation, don’t ya? Even when we’re in this hellhole.”

“Come on, you know you love me.”

Raph didn’t deny it, so Michelangelo counted that as a win.

 

 

Donatello didn’t return until hours later, though Michelangelo wasn’t really sure exactly how long had passed. He walked calmly behind Dr. Grey, his face blank, and Michelangelo could make out a long thin vertical cut stitched across his stomach. 

“I’ll be back shortly. You’ll have five minutes with her,” Dr. Grey said, watching Donatello re-enter his containment pod before turning to leave. They all waited in silence until she had left the room.

“Don are you alright?” Michelangelo cried, wishing he could get close enough to hug his brother.

“What the fuck did that bitch do to you?”

“Are you hurt, my son?”

“Don, that cut… ”

Don held up a hand, and they all immediately shut up. Heh, they really must have been worried about him to listen so easily. “I’m fine, really. I was unconscious the entire time, and I’m on pain killers now. Don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t worry about it? Don, she cut you open!” Raph clenched his teeth together. 

“Yes, but it seems her intent was just to analyze my biology, not to see my pain reaction like she did with Michelangelo. I was lucky, really.”

They stood in silence for a moment, soaking in what had just happened. Michelangelo was relieved that Don wasn’t hurt too badly, but he couldn’t escape the constant fear of not knowing what would happen next. Gee, and usually he liked a little improvisation. 

Leonard broke the silence first. “Dr. Grey said she was getting someone, what did she mean?”

“Oh, right. I made a deal of sorts with her.”

“You made a deal with that devil?” Raph couldn’t keep the incredulousness out of his voice. 

“She seems to respond well to cooperation, like she did with Mikey.”

Michelangelo cringed. That had been her responding well to him? He’d sure hate to see her responding poorly.

Donatello continued, “I promised her I would cooperate fully with whatever experiments she has in store if she would allow us a meeting with 183. Alone.”

“The lady from my dreams, right?” Michelangelo’s head was spinning. She said she would be back shortly. He was actually going to meet her?

“Exactly. I’m hoping she can shed some light onto all of this for us.”

“And she actually agreed to let us see her?” Raph asked.

“If it will help her research, sure. She seems a lot more concerned with collecting data than with being particularly sadistic. Though her scientific method isn’t exactly valid or reliable.”

Michelangelo wasn’t so sure. “I don’t know, Donnie. She seemed pretty sadistic to me.”

“Look, Mikey, whatever she is doesn’t really matter right now. To be quite honest, I’m at a loss for how we’re going to get out of this one. I really think that that dream you had may be the key to us figuring something out.”

As he finished, the door opened, and in walked Dr. Grey, followed by her. The woman in the hospital gown with messy brown hair. 

183’s face, arms, and legs were heavily bruised, and her lip was cut open. Her eyes swept over their pods and landed on Michelangelo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me a little longer than usual to update. I'll do my best to go back to updating at least weekly. Hopefully this chapter turned out alright. We're getting closer to figuring out more about the dream Michelangelo had, and let's hope April and Casey can get our lovely mutants out of there soon! Thank you for reading!


	7. Dream Manipulation

Dr. Grey’s eyes flickered back and forth between 183 and the turtles. She tilted her head for a moment before sighing. “A deal’s a deal.” She turned to leave with a swift pace. “Five minutes,” she called over her shoulder.

Michelangelo stared at the girl, who stared back at him. “So, uh. You’re the girl from my dreams. Not in, like, a flirtatious way, but… that’s cool.” Michelangelo rubbed the back of his head. He really wasn’t sure what they were supposed to talk about for five minutes. To be sure, he wanted to know what the shell had been going on with those dreams, but he didn’t know what questions to ask.

Luckily, Donatello saved him. “Dr. Grey calls you 183, but what is your real name?”

183’s eyes remained on Michelangelo. “That is my real name. I’ve spent most of my life here.”

“So, you’ve been a test subject almost your whole life?” Leonardo said sympathetically.

She nodded. “I’m sure you’re wondering about the dreams?”

Donatello offered a gentle smile. “If you could clarify a few things up for us, we would be very grateful.”

“So how'd ya do it?” Raph asked when she didn’t answer immediately.

“I’m not sure how I am able to do it, but I can manipulate dreams. The forms they take. I can even appear in them myself.”

“Like a superpower!” Michelangelo grinned and ignored the sideways glances from his brothers and father. Their situation may not be great, but finding someone with superpowers was cool no matter the situation. He guessed being a mutant was kind of a superpower in itself, especially when compared to regular turtles, but most of their skills weren’t something that humans couldn’t pick up if they tried. Dream manipulation was a whole ‘nother ballpark.

The corners of her lip turned up, but her forehead scrunched up. “Some superpower. It’s the reason the PIU found me and locked me up here.” She twiddled with her hands and bit her lip, but her gaze was steady.

“The PIU?” Donatello pushed.

“The Paranormal Investigation Unit. From what I’ve gathered, it’s a government organization”

“Like we didn’t already know we were the government’s guinea pigs,” Raph said. “How about explaining more of that… dream stuff.”

“You manipulated his dream to warn us, right? How did you even know to do so?” Donatello leaned forward against the glass, and Michelangelo had trouble telling if it was because he was curious about the answer to the question or because he was exhausted from the operation. Maybe both.

“As I said before, I’ve been in this facility most of my life. I’ve never really tried to escape, and the scientists aren’t afraid to discuss their plans in front of me. They mentioned having found a group of mutants in New York that they would soon bring in. I hear things like this whenever they find a new test subject, so I didn’t give it much thought, but the scientists left a file of information on a desk during one of their tests. I read it and it had your approximate location, so I was able to project myself into the astral plane and warn you that you’ve been discovered.”

“Any you couldn’t just have mentioned all that in the dream to Mikey? What was with that abstract nightmare shit?”

Her cheeks tinged pink. “I thought showing him what could happen would make him take me more seriously when I finally told him of the dangers. However,... ” She looked down at her hands. “I couldn’t maintain the manipulation for as long as I thought I could, and I lost hold of it before I could completely explain.”

So that was why the message was so cryptic. Michelangelo was still pretty sure she could have just told him immediately, but then again, maybe he would have interpreted it as just another dream. Not that it did any good. He didn’t figure out what the dream meant and now they were all stuck here. He shook his head and jumped back into asking questions.

“Was there a reason you jumped into my head?” Michelangelo sort of hoped that he had been chosen for a reason. Usually it was Leo, or Raph, or Donatello, or really anyone in his family but him who the cool serious things happened to. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure he wanted the responsibility the others often carried. Maybe not Raph, but the others.

“No, yours was just the first head I found. I must say your dreams before I began the manipulation were… interesting.”

Now it was Mikey’s turn to turn pink, or as pink as his green skin would let him. What had he been dreaming about? Hopefully not something too embarrassing. Probably Pizza. Or superheroes. Both of those were pretty cool, so he assumed she meant interesting in a good way. He also couldn’t quite decide if he was relieved or disappointed that the dream only happened to him by chance.

“Is there anything you know or can do that would help us get out of here?” Leo asked.

She shook her head. “I’ve spent years here and I still don’t know how to work around those cameras. They’re watching our every move, and even if you could escape one room, it’s practically a maze to actually get out of here. I’m sorry.”

“There is nothing to be sorry for. You tried to help us, and it is not your fault that these people do what they do. We are grateful that you took on the danger to help us, and we are sorry this got you hurt,” Master Splinter said.

Hurt?

Michelangelo turned his attention back to her bruises and scabs. Were those because of them? 183 covered her arms with her hands, as if trying to hide the bruises. Michelangelo vaguely remembered Dr. Grey returning to the lab with blood on her coat. 

“That’s awful! We gotta get out of here. All of us.” Michelangelo emphasized the last sentence to make sure 183 knew she was included.

“Yeah, jackass, but that’s the plan. But how’re we gonna go through with it?” Raph folded his arms, and though he sounded annoyed, Michelangelo also detected an odd lilt in Raphael’s voice that wasn’t usually present. 

He was afraid.

They were all afraid.

“April!” Donatello exclaimed.

183 blinked.

“Our friend.” Donatello explained. “If you could send her a message through her dreams, maybe she and Casey, our other friend, could get us out.”

“This rescue operation’s a little big for two people,” Leo said, “But it might be our only chance.”

“Where can I find this April and Casey?” 183 asked.

Donatello instructed her on where to find them while glanced over 183. She had a rather timid look to her. Learned helplessness. Donatello had explained it to him when he had a brief fixation on psychology. She probably didn’t think there was a way to escape, but the learned helplessness hadn’t completely taken over. She had a glint of determination in her eyes. She would help them, even if she didn’t think it would work.

The door opened with a loud rumbling, and Dr. Grey retrieved 183. 

Now, at least, they had some hope of escape.

 

 

183 sat in her cell and attempted to find this April. She projected to the location the turtle had described, but she found no heads to enter, asleep or otherwise. 

Sighing, she distinguished the hope of ever leaving and resigned herself to life as a lab rat.

 

 

April and Casey sat across from one another at a side table in their motel room. 

“Any ideas?” April asked. She was trying to wrap her head around how two people could go up against an entire organization alone, especially when the turtles had failed.

“We could go for a surprise attack. I’ll use my hockey stick and you use some martial arts.” Casey grinned and made a terrible karate pose that April would have laughed at if the situation weren’t so dire.

“There’s no way we would get to them that way. Come on, Casey. Be reasonable.”

Casey immediately put his arms down. “Alright, how about we disguise ourselves as scientists and sneak in? Not as fun but it could work.”

“It’s risky though.”

“I think anything we try’ll be risky, Ape. Sometimes you just gotta go for it.”

“Fine. We’ll need disguises from actual employees though, and we’ll need information on how to pass as employees ourselves.”

“I’m guessing a kidnapping ruse.”

“The workday is almost over. We should head out soon if we want to catch anyone.” She tried not to think about the fact that she had implied they kidnap someone, let alone the fact that she was actually going through with it. It’s for the boys, she told herself. It’s for them.

 

 

They weren’t waiting long before they spotted a man walking out of the PIU with a white coat folded up under his arm. He looked about Casey’s size, so April nodded at him. Casey returned her nod and slung his bag with his hockey stick and mask over his shoulder. April watched as he began trailing behind the man, who seemed none the wiser to his presence. Wishing Casey luck, April turned back to searching for her own victim. She cringed slightly at thinking like that. Maybe this wasn’t the best way to go about this. No. She just needed to stay focused. A woman with similar hair and build to her own walked out next. Perfect. 

April began following the woman, who carried a large bag. She could see a bit of white hanging out of the bag and hoped it was a lab coat. Otherwise, she’d be back to square one. She tried to remain a safe distance away as the woman entered a parking lot across the street from the PIU headquarters. As she fumbled for her keys, April made sure there were no people around and snuck up behind her. God, she felt like a sexual predator or… kidnapper. She shook her head and continued forward.

April and Casey had discussed how they would go about this. Each of them would find someone who was somewhat close to their physical description and nab them. Whoever found their target first would knock out the target, hide the body, and grab the rental car that they had hid close to the headquarters to pick up the body, followed by the other person and their kidnappee. 

This was never going to work.

April tried to remember the series of pressure point that Master Splinter had taught her to knock a person unconscious. She had never actually been able to make it work in practice, so she didn’t feel too confident.

She stood in the stance Master Splinter had taught her, and quickly executed the movements. The woman gasped but didn’t have time to make more sound than that before she was out cold.

April smiled. Thank you, Splinter.

She quickly hid the woman beneath her car and sent her location to Casey. Now all that was left to do was wait for him to pick her up. 

She didn’t have to wait long. Soon, the van they had rented pulled up alongside the car. Casey quickly stepped out, and with a brief glance around, helped Casey move the woman into the van.

Casey tied up the woman and placed her gently next to an already bound man. He was already wearing his hockey mask, and he reached into his bag to pull out a second mask for April.

Not really her style, but it would have to do for now. 

She reached into the woman’s bag and pulled out a lab coat and ID badge. Casey picked up the man’s coat from the floor, which already had the ID clipped to the front pocket. Casey swung it around and put it on. “How do I look?” he asked. “Smart?” 

April chuckled, though her stomach clenched everytime she looked at their victims. “For sure, Dr. Jones.”

The woman stirred. She lifted her head and looked around with her eyebrows bunched together. When finally looked up at Casey and April, her eyes widened and she began struggling.

“Calm down, we aren’t gonna hurt ya,” Casey said, his arms out in a peaceful gesture.

“Yeah, right,” the woman snapped.

April cleared her throat, and the woman eyed her. “Look, we just need to borrow your coats and badges. We’ll be back soon to untie you, but right now we have to help some friends who are in danger.”

The woman didn’t seem convinced, and April couldn’t blame her. They hadn’t really done much to inspire confidence.

The man finally came to. He had a similar look on his face to the woman, but when he saw Casey and April, he looked like he might burst into tears.

“What- what do you want?”

Casey walked up to him and punched the wall beside his head. The man jumped and tears began streaming down his face.

April ignored Casey’s theatrics. “We just need some information— ”

“I’m sorry!” he interrupted her before she can explain that they meant no harm. “Please don’t kill me. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

Casey laughed, and April elbowed him in the ribs. “What,” he gasped. “We didn’t need to do much convincing for him, did we?” April glared at him, though Casey couldn’t see behind her mask. Sighing, she waved for him to continue.

“You’re more used to the whole interrogation thing than I am.”

“Yeah, but those are usually criminals.” He thought for a moment before shaking his head. “On second thought, if these two work as scientists for the PIU and are doing what we think they’re doing, they’re as good as criminals.”

“What, no!” the man yelped. “I’ve never hurt anyone. I’m in the observation section. I just watch through the security cameras. I don’t conduct the experiments myself.”

“Winston, shut up!” the woman hissed.

“It’s not like I knew what I was getting into, I would have never taken the job. They don’t even let you leave once you’ve been hired.”

April felt even more guilt but pushed it away. These people could help them save the turtles, and from the sound of it, their suspicions were correct. The PIU were experimenting on their friends.

“You mentioned cameras?” she asked.

Winston nodded furiously. “Yeah, they’ve got cameras all over the place. Are you planning on shutting them down? Please tell me you are I promise I don’t want to be one of them.”

Shutting them down might be a bit more than they could pull off. “We’ll see,” April said. “These cameras, is there a way to turn them off?”

“I’m not sure, but there’s a huge monitoring room we all sit in. I don’t know if that helps.”

April nodded. “It does. One more question. How do we get through security? Just the ID cards? Is there a passcode?”

“Please don’t tell us you guys use fingerprints or something,” Casey added.

“I- ID cards,” the man stuttered.

“Winston!” the woman snapped.

Winston looked down.

“Alrighty then. We’ll need to borrow those coats and IDs from the both of you. Don’t worry I promise we’ll be back for you soon. Probably,” Casey said.

“For sure,” April corrected. “Listen, we really don’t want to do this, but we have friends trapped in your labs. Please, just stay here quietly and you’ll be out in no time.”

Winston nodded even more furiously and the woman scowled.

April glanced down at her ID.

Alright, time to pretend to be Olivia Rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, April and Casey just kidnapped a couple people, but looks like they're closer to a rescue. Thank you for reading!


	8. Rescue

Getting past initial security went surprisingly smoothly. A guard in front of the elevator to the lower floors lazily checked their IDs and ushered them inside. Once inside, all they had to do was scan their ID if they needed to get through any of the big metal doors. According to Winston, there was only one monitoring room that oversaw the entire facility. That was where they needed to head. 

They reached a long hallway and April tried not to let panic set in as they got closer to their goal. A man in a lab coat exited from a door to their right, staring at some sort of device which emitted a high pitched beeping sound. April closed her eyes and steadied herself before approaching him with mock confidence.

“Excuse me, sir. We need to deliver these documents to the monitoring room right away, but we’re new here and can’t quite remember where it is.”

The man didn’t look up from his device. “Floor A 3 first door to the right from the elevator.”

“Thank you.”

They hurried as quickly as they dared without drawing suspicion. When they reached the door the man had described, April and Casey met eyes and nodded.

This was it.

April only hoped they weren’t too late.

 

 

Michelangelo was bored. Sure, there was the ever-present fear that Dr. Grey would show up and take another one of them away, but she hadn’t appeared in some time, and Michelangelo didn’t real have much to do in his 4 foot diameter cell.

He settled on singing.

He wasn’t really sure what he was singing. He knew it was the theme song from a tv show he liked, but he had never bothered to learn the words, so he just sang what sounded right.

The others weren’t too pleased.

Master Splinter didn’t react. He was in some sort of upright meditation. Donatello rubbed his temples without saying much, and Michelangelo was worried it was because of the operation. Leonardo groaned a few times and asked Michelangelo to quiet down a bit. Raphael silently leaned against the wall of his cell with his arms folded, tapping his bicep before shouting, “Would ya knock it off!”

Michelangelo quieted down and settled on humming. Now, he really wished he had his nunchucks or a yoyo or something to keep his hands occupied. He also found himself missing his skateboard. The smooth gliding and sweet tricks. He was always the better of the brothers at it if he did say so himself.

He stopped humming.

“So, does anyone have a plan yet?” 

None of his brothers answered, and Splinter didn’t seem shaken from his meditation.

“I guess that’s a no.”

Michelangelo focused on the glass cylinder around him. The longer he waited in here, the smaller it seemed. His stomach hurt, and it didn’t help that he hadn’t eaten in who knows how long. They were planning on feeding them, right? They weren’t much use as test subjects if they died of starvation. Or maybe this was another one of her experiments. See how long the mutants can last without food. 

He focused on one of the cameras in the room. It was black with a small red light in the corner. He shouted, “Hey, you ever gonna give us some food?”

No answer. Of course there was no answer, he was talking at a camera.

“Mikey, we shouldn’t agitate them,” Donatello said, eyes closed. 

“A lot of good that did you,” Mikey muttered, then cringed at his own words. “Sorry, Don.”

“I know, Mikey. It’s fine.” But Donatello sounded tired. So tired. Michelangelo wondered if those scientists knew what they were doing. Did they patch him up correctly? He was lucky that whatever poison they had given him didn’t have any long lasting effects. Donnie, though, who knows if they messed anything up inside him. 

“Hey, Mikey. We’re, uh, we’re gonna be okay. I know it doesn’t seem that way now, but we’re gonna be fine.” Raph said roughly and awkwardly, his voice drawing Mikey in. He hadn’t realized his had been breathing heavily and had been pressing his hands harshly against the sides of his cell. Trying to calm his breathing, Mikey swallowed.

“I know, I know.” Mikey said, and he tried to convince himself that it was true.

Leo punched his tank, drawing all of their attention.

“Damn it,” Leo said.

“Leo?” Mikey wasn’t sure what to make of his brother’s sudden outburst.

Leo sighed. “I’m supposed to be the leader here, and I can’t come up with anything. I don’t know what to do.”

“We’re a team, Leo. We’ll figure it out together,” Donatello said, reaching out as if to comfort Leo, but they all knew he couldn’t make contact.

“Donatello is right, Leonardo,” Master Splinter cut in. “You are a team. No, we are a team. If anything, as your father and sensei, I should be the one to get us all out of here. Yet, I feel as helpless as the day my own master, Hamato Yoshi, was killed.”

Raphael smirked. “Rats in a cage, huh?”

Splinter managed a chuckle. “Indeed.”

“Master Splinter, I know you mean to reassure me, but it is still my responsibility to lead my brothers, and yet I’ve done hardly any leading since coming to this place.” Leo scowled and gestured around them. The lab seemed to be getting more bleak by the minute.

Michelangelo stretched his arms above his head. “If you want to play the blame game, I’m the one who got the warning from 183. I should have figured out we were going to be attacked in the lair. It was stupid to think that everything would be fine if we didn’t leave the lair and I just kept quiet.”

“I’m sure we all have things we would have done differently, but there’s no use thinking about it now.” There was a strain to Donatello’s voice, and Michelangelo felt his stomach clench just looking at the stitched line across his brother’s midsection. 

Raph looked like he was about to comment on that when their cells began to rise. All of the cells in the room.

Meaning they weren’t confined anymore, and there was no Dr. Grey anywhere to be seen.

Michelangelo jumped into the open lab, and his brothers hesitantly followed.

“Do- do you think it’s some kind of trap?” Donatello asked, scanning the room. Several other humanoid and non-humanoid creatures also stepped out of their respective cells, looking around with the same curiosity and suspicion the turles wore now.

Michelangelo glanced at the camera just in time to see the red light flicker off.

“Did you guys… ”

“Let’s figure out how to get out the door,” Leo interrupted, leading the others to the metal entryway to the lab. The miscellaneous creatures soon followed behind them. Now that Michelangelo could get a good look at them, most of them seemed human, but there were a few species he could’ve sworn were aliens. Some were pink and blob-like, like giant malformed Utrom. Some were humanoid with some oddities that made them look not quite right, like a mostly human figure with antenna coming out of their head.

Leo banged and Raph banged on the door while Don went for the ID scanner.

“I don’t think that’s going to help,” Don said pointedly at Leo and Raph. “Let me try to hack into their software and see if I can get it to open.”

Leo immediately backed up and Raph followed suit. Michelangelo leaned over Don to see what he was doing, but his hands were moving too quickly and he couldn’t make out what was going on on the screen.

The door opened.

“Don, you did it!” Michelangelo whooped with a slap to Don’s back.

“I didn’t do that,” Don stated simply, causing a dread to bubble up in Mikey’s stomach.

Behind the door was… 

Casey and April!

Mikey shouted and went in for a hug. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you guys.”

April laughed and Casey soon had him in a noogie.

“There’s time for that later,” April said, pulling Casey off of Mikey. “Let’s go.”

They raced down the hallway after Casey and April, and Michelangelo noticed a small mob of other test subjects tagged along behind them. He smiled at them in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture.

“How’d you find us?” Donatello asked. They passed several scientists on the way, but as soon as they noticed the mob of mutants and people, they turned heel and ran.

“Long story short we found a piece of one of their uniforms in the lair, traced it to here, and kidnapped a couple scientists and stole their identities,” April said quickly, pulling out her ID card to make it through the next door.

Casey jumped in next. “Then we knocked out a bunch of scientists in the monitoring room and spent forever trying to operate the machinery in there. April finally figured out how to open your guys’ cage-things and then she shut off the security cameras so that nobody who wandered in could find us quickly.”

Donatello groaned, and Michelangelo looked over just in time to see him falling over, clenching his stomach.

Raph and Mikey were on either side of him, so they caught him before he hit the ground.

“Sorry guys,” Donatello slurred. “It just hurts. Hard to concentrate.”

“We got ya, Donnie,” Raph said, bringing his arm over his shoulder. Michelangelo did the same on the other side.

“He alright?” Leo, April, and Casey asked at the same time.

Raph snorted. “Let’s just keep going. We’ll get ‘im help when we’re outta here.”

Michelangelo nearly dropped Don as an alarm blared and red lights flashed throughout the hall.

Damn.

“That’s our queue to hurry the hell up,” Casey said, and they quickened their pace.

Reaching the elevator, they pressed the button and waited, but several minutes passed and still no elevator.

“It probably shut down when the alarm went off.” Leo pressed the button once more for good measure. “Raph, help me pry open the doors.”

Raph made sure Michelangelo had Donatello before joining Leo in front of the doors. They each pulled a door, and after a few yanks, the doors began to open.

With a few more tugs, there was a gap wide enough for them to fit through. Leo peered into the elevator shaft and looked up and down.

“The elevator’s below us,” he said. “We should be able to climb up on the ladder to the left.”

Leo went first, then Splinter, then Casey and April. Raph hefted Don onto his back and began climbing, with Mikey underneath them to spot them. 

They made it to the lobby with little resistance, though it was difficult to pry open the elevator doors from inside the shaft. Finally, they managed, only to see a few dozen guards in those PIU uniforms blocking the exits with guns raised. Spotting them, the soldiers rushed forward and began firing. The shots were loud, and one narrowly missed Michelangelo, hitting the wall beside him. Looking back, Michelangelo noticed the hole it made in the wall.

These weren’t darts or beanbag rounds. These were actual bullets.

“Shit!” Raph shouted, trying to shield Donatello from the worst of it.

They dove behind the lobby furniture and waited for the guards to get closer. As soon as a couple of them did, Splinter, Leo, and Raph grabbed their guns and pulled them behind the furniture with them. Splinter broke his gun, but Raph stopped Leo before he could do the same. 

“Follow my lead,” Raph said, grabbing one of the guards they had taken the guns from. Leo followed suit.

Raphael and Leonardo stepped out from behind the furniture with the soldiers in front of them and the guns aimed at their heads.

Master Splinter gave them a disapproving look but didn’t act to stop them.

“I’m not sure about this Raph,” Leo said quietly, but Raph shook his head.

“Unless you have any bright ideas oh wise leader this may be our only shot.”

The sound of gunfire stopped, and Michelangelo let out a sigh of relief.

“We hear anymore shots fired and we shoot!” Raphael shouted.

Some of the guards looked at one another. A couple stepped forward, as if to ignore Raph’s warning, but a few more soldiers pulled them back. Michelangelo could hear a few of them argue back and forth before one, who seemed to be their leader, stepped forward.

“We can’t have you stealing property of the U.S. government,” the man shouted, but he wasn’t looking at Raph and Leo. Instead, his attention was on the couch April and Casey were crouched behind.

Michelangelo squeezed Donatello’s arm, who was behind a knocked over table with him, and gave him a reassuring smile. Don could only nod slightly in response.

“We don’t want any trouble,” the man continued, and Michelangelo snorted in unison with Raph.

April stood up from behind the couch, much to Casey’s apparent horror. Mikey couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he could tell be Casey’s wildly waving hands that he was not happy with April’s decision.

“One wrong move and we shoot,” Raph reminded them.

“We just want to take our friends and go,” April said. “I’m sure you don’t want any of your men getting hurt. Neither do we.”

Man, they were betting a lot on the guards’ leader being compassionate. Michelangelo wasn’t sure what would happen if he didn’t care about his men. Scratch that, he knew exactly what would happen. They would be dead meat.

“We can’t let you take all of the PIU’s research subjects,” the leader said.

April nodded. “Understandable. We just want these five friends back.” 

Michelangelo tried to ignore the several test subjects who had made it up the elevator shaft. God, was this really their only option?

The guard nodded.

“Alright, all of you PIU freaks in the corner over there.” Raph waved the gun toward the side of the lobby opposite the doors. Opposite the way to freedom.

The soldiers did as they were told, and Leo and Raph were careful to always keep their captives between them and the enemy as they moved. The group slowly made their way towards the doors. Each step was agony, and Michelangelo couldn’t be sure Donatello wasn’t going to completely go limp on him before they reached the door.

Dead silence filled the room as they got closer. 100 feet. Now 50. 10. April and Casey yanked open the doors, and Raph and Leo shoved their captives back toward the soldiers as they raced around the corner. Michelangelo and Donatello trailed behind.

Michelangelo heard a loud crack and a sharp pain throbbed in his back.

He almost fell to the ground right there, but he had to make sure Don made it with the group. They followed April and Casey to an alley next to the PIU headquarters. Footsteps sounded behind them, and Michelangelo began to panic. What if they didn’t make it in time? What if they went back into those labs? What if they were killed?

They turned the corner to see a van parked with its front facing the street. Casey grabbed two tied up individuals from inside the van and threw them out into the alley, but Mikey didn’t have time to think about that. April jumped into the driver’s seat and they all piled into the back of the van.

The van peeled out of the alley, and Mikey turned to look behind them. The soldiers were stopped outside the building, but they didn’t point their guns at them, not daring to fire in an open street.

Michelangelo sighed in relief as they gained distance from the headquarters, but soon his relief turned to guilt.

Not all the other test-subjects made it out. He wasn’t sure if any of them did. Mikey thought of 183 and her efforts to help them. They hadn’t even thought to go back and look for her. He shook his head. Right now, they had to focus on getting home.

One day they would be back. And they would get every last test subject out of this god-awful place.

With that thought, Michelangelo lost consciousness, his head on Donatello’s shoulder and Donatello’s head resting on his own head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I don't know how to write, plus I literally didn't plan much besides the initial premise for this story, so every chapter has been a weird ride. Anyway I hope at least someone has enjoyed this so far :'D. There's probably only going to be a chapter or two after this. I'm planning on hopefully writing a longer fic that's more planned out than this spur of the moment one, but it'll be a while before that comes out and it probably won't be in this fandom. All the same thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day!


	9. Recovery

Michelangelo opened his eyes to find himself laying in his stomach, face-first in a pillow. He groaned and began to turn over, but a sharp pain sent tremors down his body. Sighing, he returned to his stomach and settled on moving his head.

“Finally awake I see,” April said warmly. She was sitting on a bed a few feet away from the one Michelangelo was in. Beside her was Donatello laying on his back, his chest rising and falling slowly.

“Why does my back feel like I got hit with a— ” Michelangelo didn’t finish his sentence, instead groaning again as his back throbbed.

“Bullet? That’s because you got shot, idiot,” Raph said from the other side of his bed. Michelangelo turned his head slightly to see Raph sitting in a chair, looking like he hadn’t slept in ages.

“Well don’t you look pretty,” Mikey said, but his words slurred.

Raphael didn’t reply, and Michelangelo took a moment to look around the rest of the room. Splinter was sitting at a desk in the corner, and Leo and Casey were nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Leo and Casey?”

“They went to see if they can scrounge up some pain meds and antibiotics for ya,” Raph said, leaning back with his arms crossed. “You’re lucky you were out of it when we got the bullet out. Your shell though… ”

Michelangelo arched his neck to look at his shell. There was a hole in it with cracks around it. It looked sort of like the skulls that had been shot in those forensic shows. A bunch of cloth was shoved into the hole and was sort of taped at the top of the shell. 

“Sorry,” April said. “It was the best we could do with what we had. We only just found this motel no more than a half hour ago, and had to do most of the work in the van.”

“I getcha.” Michelangelo turned away from his shell. Seeing it made him sick to the stomach. Do shells grow back on turtles? Man, he wished he knew more about his own biology. “Getting away from those creeps was our first priority. How’s Don?”

“Could be better. We don’t know the full extent of what they did to him, but Donnie came to a while ago and said he was fine.”

“Like we can believe him,” Raph muttered, eyes flickering back and forth between Mikey and Don.

“He’s just sleeping right now,” April continued. “Once we get to safety we’ll find a professional we can trust to take a look at the both of you.”

A click sounded from the door, and Leo and Casey came barreling in. 

Leo set down a couple brown paper bags, and Casey handed April a plastic bag filled with various bottles of medication. April took a peek inside and then looked up at Casey with a raised eyebrow. “You did pay for this didn’t you?”

“Of course we did, who do you think we are?” Casey grinned.

April looked at Leo.

“Don’t worry he paid for all of it, and we didn’t see anyone suspicious while we were out,” Leo assured her. April nodded and began sorting through the medicine.

“I’m no expert, but from what I can tell, they patched up Don’s injury adequately. We’ll have to find someone more knowledgeable to take a look inside. Mikey, on the other hand, we still need to work on.” April finally found what she was looking for and stood up. “Mikey, we’re going to need to clean your wound so that you don’t get an infection.”

Casey reached for another bottle. “I’d take these first though.” He tossed it to Mikey, who caught it with a flinch as his back protested against the movement. Without checking how many he was supposed to take, Michelangelo swallowed a few pills in the hopes that the throbbing pain would go away, or at least diminish.

“I would rather wait until the pain killers have kicked in, but I think we need to get your wound cleaned up as soon as possible. We’ve already waited too long,” April said. She slowly removed the cloth that had been stuffed into Michelangelo’s shell.

Michelangelo gasped as he felt his skin lift up with the cloth. He closed his eyes when April began to dab the antibiotics onto the wound. Though he braced himself for it, the pain still caused him to grimace, and he clenched the edges of the bed.

“Sorry, Mikey. Just a little longer.”

Leo leaned over next to him and began to rub the top of Mikey’s hand reassuringly. Mikey quickly turned his hand palm-upward so that he could grasp Leo’s. He was a bit embarrassed, but was grateful when Leo returned his squeeze.

April pressed down on the wound. “Leo, did you find a needle and thread?”

Leo nodded and released Mikey’s hand to shuffle around in the plastic bag. Mikey kept his eyes closed. 

“I’m gonna stitch you up, Mikey. I don’t particularly want you bleeding out or getting an infection before we can find a doctor or vet.”

Michelangelo nodded. He really wished he hadn't woken up. This would have been so much easier if he had just stayed unconscious.

He felt the first sharp poke of the needle and cried out despite his attempts not to. He gritted his teeth together and made pained noises through his teeth as he felt the odd sensation of thread being pulled through his skin.

“Easy there, Mikey.” Raph awkwardly patted his hand, and Michelangelo would have laughed if he wasn’t in so much pain. 

The next poke of the needle.

Mikey gasped and grabbed Raph’s arm, just as he had grabbed Leo’s hand only moments ago. Raph didn’t pull away, and Mikey hoped he wasn’t squeezing too tightly, but he really needed to feel someone there. 

The process took a lot longer than Mikey would have liked, but eventually April tied off the stitches and taped some gauze tightly onto the wound inside his shell. 

“I’m not sure about your shell,” April said. “I looked up damaged shells and it seems there are ways to seal large cracks, but I think we should wait until your back is healed before trying anything.”

“Sounds good.” Mikey’s voice was raspy. Leo handed him a glass of water and he took it gratefully. He tilted his head back and gulped it down, not caring that quite a bit of the water wasn’t even making it into his mouth.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Mikey.” Raph paused. “Relatively, at least. When you passed out on us you really had us worried. There was a lot of blood.”

Mikey grinned. It wasn’t often that Raph expressed his affection in ways other than teasing, and Mikey wasn’t much better at it, but he was glad Raph was trying. “‘Course I’m okay,” he said. “You can’t take down the Battle Nexus Champion that easily.”

Raph just smiled and shook his head. Wow. Not even a groan. Michelangelo decided to consider this a victory. 

He heard a rustle from the next bed over, and glanced over to see Don trying to get up. April rushed over and gently pushed him back down, but Don craned his neck toward Mikey. “Did Mikey wake up?”

Casey patted him on the arm. “Yep, and we got him patched up and everything.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Don said quietly, before lying back down.

Mikey’s stomach growled.

“Dudes, I almost forgot. We haven’t eaten for like… days. I’m starving.”

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Leo reached for the paper bags he had brought in earlier. “We grabbed some food for all of us while we were out. You think you can stomach a burger, Mike?”

“You know it,” Mikey said, and Leo tossed him a burger. He quickly removed the wrapping and took a huge bite. The grease made him feel a little queasy, but he ignored it in favor of stuffing as much food into his mouth as possible. Man, he missed fast food.

Leo distributed the food to everyone before grabbing a burger for himself and taking a seat. 

Master Splinter cleared his throat. “I’m proud of all of you for getting through that… ordeal. And thank you April, Casey.”

“Yeah,” Leo said. “We don’t know what would have happened if you two didn’t show up.”

April shrugged and Casey scratched the back of his head. “Well, you know,” he said. “You guys would have done the same for us.” And Mikey knew that they would, but he was still grateful. 

“So,” Michelangelo began with a mouth full of food. He swallowed. “Do we have a plan? They know where we live, and probably know where Casey and April live by now.”

“That is a conundrum,” Don said. His head was propped up by a pillow and he slowly picked at his own burger. 

“I’ve been thinking about that,” April said. “And I think our best bet is taking down the entire organization.”

“I’m all for that but it’s easier said than done.” Raph crumpled up his leftover burger wrapping and threw it in the trash on the opposite side of the room.

April nodded. “That’s why I took some photos with my phone and stole some of their files while we were in the lab. We put pressure on them through the media and the government will have to do something about the PIU.”

Silence.

“April! That’s awesome!”

“Nice one.”

“Glad you were thinking ahead.”

Michelangelo swallowed. “That means the other test subjects will go free, right?”

“We’ll do what we can,” April said. “I only hope this is enough evidence to take them down.”

“We can’t just… leave them,” Mikey said, mostly to himself. Of course, they already had, once.

“We won’t,” Don and Leo said at the same time.

“Not like we can even go home until we get this mess solved anyway.” Raph gently punched Mikey in the shoulder. “Don’t worry too much, we’ll figure it out.”

“I have a friend who works for Channel 6 News,” April said. “They should be able to get this on the air, and the pressure should be enough to at least get the government to reevaluate the PIU’s methods.”

“Make sure they focus on those being experimented on against their will,” Don said. He paused for a long moment, staring at his hands. “I know we want to remain secret, but if it helps, I’m willing to come forward about everything. I’m sure Mikey is, too.” He looked at Mikey for confirmation, which Mikey wholeheartedly gave him. “I’m just not sure if seeing a bunch of mutant turtles is going to get the public on our side or not.”

“We’ll either be victims or freaks who deserved what they got,” Raph said.

“It’s definitely a risk, and one we can’t take lightly.” Leo crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, turning his attention to their sensei. “What do you think, Master Splinter?”

Master Splinter closed his eyes and didn’t answer for a moment. He looked even more gaunt than usual after their days in captivity, but he still exhibited the strength Mikey knew his sensei to hold. “I will leave the decision up to you, my sons. We have already been discovered by dangerous forces, and I believe you need to weigh whether the secrecy and peace in our lives is worth the cost of those hurt by this organization. Leonardo, I want you to make the final decision, with input from your brothers, of course.”

Leonard looked down and took a deep breath. “If we can do this without revealing our identities, I believe that would be for the best. Donatello, Michelangelo.” Both Don and Mikey stood up straighter at the sound of their full names. Well, as straight as they could since both of them were lying down. “If it comes down to it, would you be willing to show the damage done to you?”

“I’m totally willing, dude,” Mikey said. “We need those guys shut down for good.”

Don nodded. “I agree. We should avoid it in case it’ll make the situation worse, but if the evidence we have doesn’t prove to be enough, we’ll be prepared to come forward.”

Raph snorted. “I don’t exactly trust humans to give a damn about our situation, but I’m also not willing to leave innocents down there. I think keeping it in mind is a good idea, but _only_ if it’s a backup plan.”

Leo pushed himself up from where he leaned on the wall. “That settles it, then. April, mind getting in contact with your friend at Channel 6?”

“Already on it.” April dialed on her phone, but then paused with a concerned expression. “You don’t think they would track our cell phones, do you? They wouldn’t know about mine or Casey’s, surely.”

“We did sort of talk about you guys, and they were probably listening in,” Mikey said slowly. “Man, we probably shouldn’t of done that.”

“Well, it wasn’t like we knew Casey and April were already coming to get us.” Raph walked over to Casey and elbowed him. “Should’ve known you dorks were already on it.”

Casey grinned. “‘Course. Who do ya take us for?”

“You? A knucklehead.”

Casey swiped at Raph, who would usually have dodged easily, but Raph lost his balance and fell backward onto the floor. Sheepishly, he stood up, rubbing the back of his head. 

“Considering our… limited resources, I think it’s worth the risk,” Don said, ignoring Raph and Casey’s banter. “Go ahead and call, April. Just be on the lookout and be ready to run if we need to.”

April continued dialing the number. Someone picked up and began talking, but by this point, Michelangelo was zoning out. He was really trying hard not to think about the way his back throbbed. Or how his shell had a gaping hole in it with cracks around it. But the more he tried _not_ to think about it, the more he thought about it. April said there were ways to seal the shell, but he wondered what that entailed? Would it be, like, a prosthetic covering? Was there a way to make the shell grow back? Or would his shell be scarred like this for the rest of his life? He supposed it looked kind of cool, like a battle wound. When he was old and senile he could probably make up stories to tell April and Casey’s grandkids about how he got injured. The image brought a smile to his face, though he was sure it looked more like a grimace considering how much pain he was in.

He snapped back to attention when April hung up the phone. They all looked at her, expectantly.

“She’s willing to put it on air,” April said, and everyone sighed in relief. “I just have to fax over the documents. She has contact with other news stations, so she promised this would be big news by tomorrow.”

April left to find out if the motel had access to a fax machine, and to ask where to find one if they didn’t. Meanwhile, the others decided to watch a little tv while they waited. The tv faced the two beds, so with great effort and a little help from Raph and Leo, Mikey turned around so that he was laying on his stomach with his head facing the tv. Raph plopped down beside him, and Leo sat on the bed next to Don. Casey settled for the floor while Splinter remained in his own chair. 

“You choose,” Raph said, shoving him the remote.

“Moi? Raph, you shouldn’t have,” Mikey said with a huge grin. Raph rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything. Mikey assumed Raph was playing extra nice because of his injury. It wasn’t like he was going to miss an opportunity taking advantage of that.

After flipping through a few channels, Michelangelo found one airing an episode from the original Star Trek series.

“This?” Raph’s voice was way too incredulous for Mikey’s taste. Doesn’t he know his brother at all? Of course he would go for Star Trek. Unless he found a superhero show or movie, but unfortunately, none seemed to be playing at the moment.

“What?” Mikey only tried a little to not sound offended.

“It _is_ a classic,” Don defended.

“Yeah, Raph. It’s a classic,” Mikey mocked.

“Leo?” Raph tried.

Leo shrugged. “I’m fine with it.” He tried to play it off all cooly, but Mikey knew he was secretly just as into it as he and Don were. Leo’s eyes were glued to the screen as he spoke.

Casey only smiled when Raph turned to him for help, and Splinter just chuckled. “It _is_ a classic,” Splinter said, a sly grin on his face.

Raph huffed, but soon he was engrossed in the episode as well. 

It was a good episode. There were space battles. Spock was being Spock. Kirk was being Kirk.

Then the team got captured.

And were taken to a lab.

Mikey’s mouth went dry, and he had trouble swallowing. A once pleased and engaged silence grew uncomfortable. Mikey felt Raph tense beside him, and he noticed Don staring off into the distance instead of at the screen.

Kirk was strapped down to a table, and alien machinery descended down upon him, assumedly to cut him open.

Mikey bit his lip and turned off the tv.

They all sat in silence, staring at the now black screen.

Not long after Mikey had turned the television off, the door handle turned and April came in. She glanced around at them, all huddled around the tv, but not really watching anything, and cleared her throat.

“It’s done. All we have to do now is wait. I updated my friend on everything we know about the PIU. Channel 6 will be airing an initial exposure piece tonight, and it will continue tomorrow. As long as other news stations get on the bandwagon, we really have a shot here. Now all that’s left to do is wait.”

“We should get some sleep, then,” Leo said. “Those of us who are well will take turns on watch. The window provides a good view of the parking lot, so just be aware of anyone coming in that looks suspicious.”

“So anyone in suits, white lab coats, or PIU uniforms?” Mikey asked.

“Sure, Mikey.”

“I will take the first watch,” Master Splinter said from where he already sat by the window.

“No, sensei. You need your rest,” Leo argued.

“All of you need your rest,” April cut in. “Casey and I will take the first two watches. We aren’t the ones who’ve been locked in a lab for days.”

Master Splinter nodded slowly. “Very well. I will take the third watch, however. Arouse me from my meditation when the time comes.”

“Sure thing, Master Splinter,” Casey said.

Mikey decided it would be too much effort and pain to try to turn around again, so he asked Raph to toss him a pillow. Raph and Mikey settled in to their bed, and Don and Leo settled into the other. There was a small couch in the corner of the room, so April took that and Casey took the first watch.

For the first time in days, Mikey turned to unconsciousness willingly.


	10. Final

The next morning they waited in the motel room with the tv turned to Channel 6. Nothing about the PIU had aired yet, and waiting around was making Mikey anxious. If only his back weren’t killing him, he could at least take a walk or something, but for now he was stuck in bed. At least Raph had reluctantly agreed to play chopsticks with him (which was very difficult considering they only had three fingers on each hand). It wasn’t much of a distraction, but it was better than nothing.

“How’s your back?” Raph tapped one of Mikey’s fingers and Mikey stuck up a second finger. 

“Could be better,” Michelangelo said truthfully. “The meds are helping a little though.”

Raph grunted and they continued playing. 

“We’ll get you to someone who can really help you soon, Mikey,” Leo said. “And Don, too.”

“Who knows how long that’ll actually take.” Don didn’t look up from his science magazine that they had found in a drawer in the motel room. “We don’t know if the media plan will work, and we don’t really have much of a backup plan if it doesn’t.”

“It’ll work,” April asserted. “It’s out of our hands right now. We just need to have a little faith.”

“I’d have a little more faith if I didn’t know Big Brother was experimenting on people. What if it’s a conspiracy and the entire government’s in on it? Man, it gives me the goosebumps just thinking about it.” Michelangelo shook his head but soon erupted into a grin. “I win. Again.”

Raph reached for the pillow and was about to smack Mikey in the head with it when he stopped abruptly, eyeing Mikey’s back. Slowly, he put the pillow back down. “Was a stupid game, anyway.”

“Guys, look!” April grabbed the remote and turned up the volume on the tv. 

“Breaking news. Evidence has come in that the government has been experimenting on people without their consent. Official files and photos from the Paranormal Investigation Unit demonstrate these unethical practices.”

Photos appeared on screen of a room with dozens of monitors focused on various laboratories and people in containment cells.

“Witnesses at the PIU headquarters report that shots were fired yesterday, and that armed men in tactical gear were sighted around the building. Though witnesses say they did report this incident to the police, there was no police response.”

The news reporter continued to report on the incident, and to the turtles’ delight, was very condemnatory of the practices of both the government agency and the police. April flipped through several more news channels, and found that the information was airing on most of them.

“This is great,” April said. “Now hopefully the public will become involved and the government will be forced to shut down this whole operation.”

“We’re expecting a lot to happen from one little news story,” Don warned. The others turned to look at him. “I’m just saying don’t get your hopes up too high. As they say, hope for the best, prepare for the worst.”

Now that they knew that their story was airing, they had nothing to do but wait again. Mikey decided to get up and walk around, much to the dismay of his brothers. 

“Come on, I’m dying just staying in one spot!” Michelangelo moaned, his face smothered in the mattress and his arms hanging off of it in front of him.

“Suck it up, Mikey. None of us like being stuck here, either,” Raph said.

“But you guys can all at least walk around the room. Don and I are stuck in bed!”

“I’m fine here,” Don said helpfully, earning a glare of betrayal from Mikey. 

“Look, if you really wanna walk around, go ahead. See how far you get.” Raph gestured around the room and laid back in the bed, a smirk on his face.

Mikey scowled, of course Raph would think he’d won with that one. Mikey struggled to sit up, but Leo rushed to his side.

“Not helping, Raph,” Leo said. He wrapped an arm around Mikey. “Look, Mikey, I know you don’t like holding still, but we don’t have many options right now.” He paused, thinking. “Why don’t I help you move around a bit, but only if you promise to tell me if it starts hurting too much.”

“Deal.”

Michelangelo kept one arm around Leo and one hand propped up against the bed. He pushed himself up, but pain shot through him as his back protested. He nearly fell back to the bed, but Leo caught him, carefully lifting him up.

“You okay, Mikey?” Leo stopped to question him.

“Yeah, I’m good. Let’s keep going.”

Once he was up, he felt a little better. Being upright, there was less strain from moving his back than there was when he was trying to get up. Leo kept his arm wrapped tightly around Mikey and they hobbled back and forth across the room a little.

It was really boring.

But it was better than being stuck in bed.

As they walked, Michelangelo wondered how 183 and the others were doing. Had all of them been caught? Were they being punished for his and his brothers’ escape? He sure hoped not. Guilt at leaving them to their fate settled in Mikey’s stomach, and he suddenly found it hard to breathe. Geez, some hero he was, running away like that. He was supposed to be Michelangelo, the ninja! The Turtle Titan! The Battle Nexus Champion!

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden urge to use the restroom.

“Hey, uh, Leo? I gotta pee.”

Leo just looked at him, then sighed. “I’m going to have to help you, aren’t I.”

“Just to get to the bathroom. Once I’m in there you’re leaving. There is no way I’m letting you watch me pee.”

“Trust me, it is the last thing I want to do.”

Leo helped Mikey into the bathroom, and once he was settled in front of the toilet, Leo left. He closed the door, but left it open a crack in case Mikey needed anything.

“Let me know when you’re done.”

After doing his business, Mikey decided he wanted to take a few steps on his own. He put his hand on the bathroom counter and used it as a crutch to walk forward. He found that despite the pain in his back, he was able to take a couple steps with considerable ease.

He stopped in front of the mirror and turned to get a better look at his backside. It was exactly how he remembered it from craning his neck yesterday, but now he saw the full extent of the damage. He couldn’t see the wound itself, with it being wrapped up, but the shell bothered him. He kept trying to tell himself it looked fine. Battle scars, and all, right? But the fact that it may look that way forever unsettled him, especially when he looked at the gaping hole in the shell.

“Hey guys, do you think my shell’s gonna look this way forever?” Michelangelo peeked his head out the door and called around the corner.

“Eh, even if it does, it looks pretty cool.” Raph said from the bed, his eyes focused on the tv.

“I guess you’re right. Jealous of my awesome battle wounds, Raph?”

Raphael rolled his eyes, not bothering to look at Michelangelo. “In your dreams, Mikey.” 

Leo helped Mikey return to his bed, and Raph moved over to make room for him. Leo gently lowered Mikey down on his stomach, and Mikey grabbed a pillow to lay his head on. 

“Any news with the media?”

“More of the same,” April said. 

 

 

A few hours later, things started to pick up. The news depicted citizens lining the streets demonstrating against the PIU and lack of government or police reaction. Within a few more hours, the police and FBI surrounded the PIU headquarters and there were talks of shutting down the PIU. Mikey thought that the more human of the test subjects would be rescued, but he was still worried about the less human-looking ones. If the PIU shut down, would they just be sent to another facility?

By nightfall, the FBI brought out a group of scientists in handcuffs. According to the politicians who spoke on the issue, the scientists were the only ones involved in the human experimentation and no other government agencies knew of their actions. Michelangelo somehow doubted this. 

More importantly were the talks on what to do about the test subjects. There would be more discussion on their futures at a later date, but for now, they were being sent to a rehabilitation center. Doctors would be sent to check up on them, but they would be away from an environment that reminded them of the labs.

Michelangelo breathed a sigh of relief. Though it still worried him that the only test subjects they had mentioned were human. It made sense that they would want to hide the mutants and other humanoids from the public eye, but that meant they had no idea if they were getting the help they needed.

April was on and off the phone with several news agencies, making sure that everything they heard on the news was accurate. As far as the media-end went, they were reporting all they knew. Michelangelo wasn’t sure he could say the same for the politicians.

April sat down. “It looks like the PIU is shutting down for now, and the test subjects are on their way to rehabilitation.”

“We may want to check up on that to make sure that’s actually what’s happening,” Don said.

April nodded. “We will, but you guys are a priority for now. I found a doctor in New York who’s willing to see you guys. According to my friend at Channel 6, he’s trustworthy.”

“Master Splinter, do you think we should trust him?” Leo asked, when everyone turned to him for assurance.

Splinter hummed. “We may need to. We’ve already been compromised, and you boys’ health is our priority right now.”

Raphael stood and yawned with a stretch. “We’d better head out, then. Looks like we got a long drive ahead of us.”

“We can go home now?” Mikey asked sleepily, despite having stayed in all day.

Leo looked to each member of his family and offered a smile which they all returned. Mikey noticed that all of their expressions were sincere, even with the exhaustion evident in their eyes.

“We can go home now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's the end of it. Sorry if the ending's a little abrupt. This is the first time I've actually finished a multi-chapter fanfic, even if it is a relatively short one, so yay! Thank you everyone for reading, kudos, bookmarking, and commenting! A special thank you to Arithese for commenting on every chapter that was really kind of you and helped to keep me motivated!


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